Richard Taylor

Richard A. Taylor is a distinguished civic and business leader with decades of experience in real estate development, public service, equity, and advocacy. Over his career, he has managed more than $900 million in real estate transactions and played a pivotal role in transformative projects in Massachusetts, including oversight of Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”).

Richard’s career bridges corporate, civic, and academic spheres. He has held senior leadership roles across public agencies and private enterprises, shaping Boston’s urban landscape while advancing opportunities for underrepresented communities. His widely recognized book, Martha’s Vineyard: Race, Property, and the Power of Place, underscores his long-standing commitment to exploring the intersections of race, class, and social and economic equity.

His academic experience includes former faculty member at Babson teaching Real Estate, Foundations of Management Education, (FME), and as Founding Director of the Real Estate Center at Suffolk University. 

He has been a Real Estate Developer for forty years starting with developing home ownership opportunities in Roxbury and Dorchester. His projects include Co - Developer of the 1000 room Omni Seaport Boston Hotel across from the Mayor Tom Menino Convention Center, DryDock 22 also in the Seaport serving as Co-Developer with Related Beal constructing a 344,000 sq ft Lab Building for Vertex Pharmaceutical. 

In many of his projects he has created a special purpose financial vehicle to include investment opportunities for women and underserved investors. He and his team raised first $10 million for the Omni project and subsequently $30 million for the Harvard Enterprise Research Campus across from Harvard Business School. From these activities he was a founding partner of the Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund (BREIF). 

Currently he has site control of a two-acre site in Nubian Square Boston where he has planned a Performance Hall, a 310 car Garage, and a 150,000 Lab Training /Office Building.

Our speaker also has a distinguished educational background having earned his B. S. Degree in Journalism at Boston University where he became that schools very first Rhodes Scholar. After two years at Oxford, he returned to Harvard University where he completed his Law Degree and his Masters in Business Administration.