Macro Sea

David Belt

A New York-based international real estate developer, David Belt is the Founder and Managing Principal of Macro Sea and DBI. Over the past twenty-five years, Belt has developed a diverse range of projects that vary widely in size, scope and location, and has become a leader in creative real estate development and placemaking. In the past twelve years, Belt has executed over $1.5 billion in private and institutional developments in New York, Philadelphia, Berlin, Princeton, Rome, Paris, Salamanca, Dublin, and beyond. As a developer at risk with Macro Sea, he has collaborated with businesses, foundations, and individuals to realize new frameworks of place and partnership, including the recently completed New Lab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. New Lab is an interdisciplinary space designed to support entrepreneurs working in emerging technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and connected devices. Since its opening in June 2016, it is now home to over 40 companies solving real-world problems in an 84,000 square foot former shipbuilding facility. David has been a guest lecturer, panelist, and participant for institutions such as Columbia University, RPI, Penn Design, Community Design Collaborative, the Atlantic Conference, the Venice Biennale, and MoMA. He has donated consulting services and intellectual capital related to the build-out of nonprofit facilities throughout NYC through the Robin Hood Foundation, is a member of the Advisory Council of the Philadelphia-based Community Design Collaborative, and serves on the board of Neighborhood Trust.