David Price
David Price this summer became the new executive director of Roxbury-based Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation. He had previously served as director of real estate and general counsel for Madison Park Development Corporation.
In the 1980s, Price lived in Dorchester at a time when arson and abandoned buildings were a regular sight. Like many citizens, he became concerned and wanted to do something about the situation.
“I saw a number of groups that protested a lot, but very few actually were doing much about the situation,” Price said. “But the local community development corporations were fixing up abandoned buildings. I got on the board of Dorchester Bay CDC and saw how they were helping out.”
One Dorchester Bay board member suggested that Price attend law school to learn real estate law in order to work in affordable housing. He took that advice, earning his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1991 and taking a position at Goulston and Storrs, where he worked on affordable housing projects with various community development corporations, including Nuestra CDC.
Price said he envisions Nuestra continuing to work to help stem the foreclosure crisis, but also sees the CDC strengthening its grassroots outreach.
“I think that a major challenge for Nuestra and the whole community is to protect everything we as a community have accomplished over the last 20 years,” he said. “The neighborhoods that Nuestra helped rebuild are now facing abandonment again. We are working with the city, NeighborWorks, and other local nonprofits to figure out how to buy [foreclosed] properties, fix them up, and rent them out at an affordable rate.”
Price also sees Nuestra taking on larger mixed-use development projects to bring jobs, commerce and affordable housing to Roxbury and other communities.
“For over 20 years, Nuestra has been instrumental in revitalizing Roxbury and Dorchester,” he said. “We will continue this tradition, strengthen our ties to the community and further develop our role as a leading community development organization in the city of Boston.”
