About Felipe

As CEO of BelKat, which he founded in 2018 as Creatio, Felipe leads development, entitlement, and capital strategy across industrial, hospitality, mixed use, residential, and build to rent projects. With more than 30 years across architecture, consulting, and development, including eight as a practicing architect, he has led or delivered $3+ billion in development and secured 33 rezonings across 31 municipalities nationwide.

Felipe is also a Partner at PlaceMKR and Urban Moment. He previously served as COO of De la Vega Capital and SVP of Real Estate at HALL Group, held VP of Development roles at Cypress Equities and Sealy & Company, and was a national consulting manager at KPMG. Throughout his career, he has worked alongside industry leaders including Scott Sealy Sr., Craig Hall, John Paul DeJoria, and, more recently, Jack Nicklaus. His portfolio spans golf courses, multifamily, build to rent, mixed use, office, retail, industrial, hospitality, and entertainment.

Before moving into development, Felipe practiced architecture, including as a project architect at Corgan. He holds a Master of Architecture and an MBA in Real Estate and Finance, both from Texas Tech University. That combination lets him evaluate a project as a designer, an underwriter, and a developer at the same time. It is also why municipalities and capital partners rely on him for complex, high visibility approvals.

He began his professional life in the U.S. Army, serving in a Signal Brigade before transitioning to Military Intelligence for U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). FORSCOM was traditionally the Army's largest command, responsible for training, mobilizing, and deploying combat ready forces. He supported strategic and tactical operations during Desert Storm, in South Korea, and on several other deployments. That experience still shapes how he leads: calm under pressure, accountable for outcomes, and focused on the team over the individual.

Based in Austin, Felipe has been with his wife, Erika, for more than 30 years, and together they have two wonderful daughters, Isabella and Katerina. He brings the same loyalty and consistency that guide his family to every partnership.