David Valecillos

The Masters in City Planning enabled me to evolve personally and professionally in many ways. There are countless opportunities for students to get engaged, learn and make an impact in their community. While the core classes give you a broad overview of city planning, the program has a large diversity of classes that allows you to focus on the city planning topic you like the most. This enables you to become very knowledgeable in one specific field but with a holistic approach.

David is an award-winning urban planner and real estate developer. His main focus is on district level real estate planning and development. David’s work ranges from developing multi-million-dollar multi-site projects and city-wide housing market analyzes to planning the initial steps of an innovation district in Barranquilla, Colombia. David is currently the Director of Design for North Shore Community Development Coalition, a greater Boston community development organization. In his role, David is responsible for overseeing all urban planning projects for the organization including real estate projects. He is managing teams of consultants to guarantee the design, permitting, financing, development and rehabilitation of over 18 buildings, 170 residential units and 3,000 SF of commercial space (>$60 million) in The Point neighborhood in Salem. David is also one of the founders of the Punto Urban Art Museum (2017), a social justice public art program in the Point Neighborhood. The museum features 85+ large scale murals and 75 international and local artists. His work in the Point neighborhood has been recognized nationally as a model for inclusive development. David also seats on the Real Estate Advisory Committee of the Urban Land Institute (New England Region), the Public Art Commission of the City of Cambridge and External Advisory Committee for the Metro Boston 2030 Plan by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.