The National Main Street Center, Inc., a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is pleased to announce that Ed McMahon has been elected to chair its Board of Directors. McMahon has served as an advisor to the National Trust for almost a decade and recently guided the Center’s refresh of its preservation-based approach to downtown revitalization. He joined the National Main Street Center Board in the fall of 2015.

“We are pleased to announce Ed McMahon as our new board chair,” said Patrice Frey, president and CEO of the National Main Street Center. “Ed is a passionate advocate for Main Street and we’re fortunate to have him lead our team. He brings a wealth of expertise on real estate development, community planning and economic development issues, and has long been an eloquent proponent of the importance of place.”

“I am honored to lead the Board of the NMSC for several key reasons,” said McMahon. “First, because of the opportunity to work with the outstanding staff who lead the Main Street movement; second, because of Main Street's proven record of success at fostering economic development and community revitalization; and finally because downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts are the heart and soul of America's cities and towns and their time has come again.”

McMahon currently serves as the Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) where he leads their worldwide efforts to conduct research and educational activities related to environmentally sensitive development policies and practices. He is also a senior staff adviser for ULI’s Building Healthy Places Initiative, and a respected authority on the connection between health and real estate.

Before joining the Institute in 2004, McMahon spent 14 years as the Vice President and Director of Land Use Planning for the Conservation Fund in Arlington County, Virginia, where he helped protect more than 5 million acres of land of historic or natural significance. McMahon is also the cofounder and former president of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes.

McMahon is also a distinguished author, having written or co-written 15 books, including Conservation Communities: Creating Value with Nature, Open Space, and Agriculture; Better Models for Development in Virginia; and Developing Sustainable Planned Communities. He also writes regularly for Urban Land magazine, Citiwire, Planning Commissioners Journal, and other periodicals.

About the National Main Street Center

Originally launched as a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980, the National Main Street Center pioneered an incremental, volunteer-driven strategy to help flagging downtowns counteract booming suburban growth. This novel approach was in stark contrast to the urban renewal projects that were destroying commercial districts and neighborhoods all over the country. By tapping two important community resources, citizen participation and its older and historic buildings, the Main Street Approach has helped reinvigorate America’s historic downtowns and commercial districts in cities and towns across the country.