David M. Gillece, a Baltimore-area real estate professional who achieved leadership positions in city development before becoming president of Colliers Pinkard, passed away on Aug. 17 at the age of 74 from Parkinson’s disease.
According to a Baltimore Sun obituary, Gillece began his career in 1973 after receiving his master’s degree from Notre Dame when he joined the staff member at the Citizens Planning and Housing Association. He gained prominence by leading a study on Baltimore-area redlining by financial institutions, which led to him becoming president of the City Fair and deputy director of the Citizens’ Planning and Greater Baltimore Committee from 1976 to 1988.
He was named president of the Baltimore Economic Development Corp. (BEDCO) in 1988 and became president of Center City-Inner Harbor Development Corp. (CCIH). In 1991, Gillece led the merger of BEDCO and CCIH which emerged as the Baltimore City Development Corp., but left after the merger was completed to become executive vice president of W.C. Pinkard, a Baltimore family-owned real estate firm. In 2003, he became president of the firm as it evolved into Colliers Pinkard, which later merged with other firms to become part of Cushman & Wakefield, where Gillece was a managing director until his retirement in 2018.
Gillece was also a board member of several local nonprofits including the Greater Baltimore Committee, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and St. Frances Academy.
“David was a civic leader who got the job done and he didn’t need any acclaim,” said Wally D. Pinkard Jr., former CEO of Colliers Pinkard. “He did great work, and he did it with real class. He looked at problems, simplified them, and could see the needs of others. He was the definition of integrity.”
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