David Koellein

An urban planner and Nashville-area native, David Koellein (pronounced "Kay-line") is a founding member of the Compass Nashville office. Raised on a Williamson County farm and now a resident of Nashville's Germantown neighborhood, David is a graduate of Lipscomb University (B.A. in Political Science) and Harvard University's world-renowned Graduate School of Design (Master in Urban Planning). 

David has served on the boards of directors/trustees for The Nashville Civic Design Center, The District, Inc., and O'More College of Design. He has also served on the Downtown Nashville Form-Based Code Review Committee. Prior to becoming a Realtor®, he accrued years of management experience working with Giarratana Development, the Metro Development and Housing Agency, and as an urban design professor and department chair at O'More College, now housed at Belmont University. 

Representing both buyers and sellers–roughly 50/50–David is known for his robust and competent service to his clients and specializes in Downtown Nashville and the surrounding rapidly-changing urban neighborhoods, though his client base extends to Green Hills, Brentwood, and Franklin. He operates thoughtfully and strategically on behalf of his clients and his own award-winning business.

In 2021, David joined forces with Kayla Bates to form The DK Group. Kayla's professionalism, intuition for service, and local roots create a dynamic greater than the sum of its parts. A good "generalist" outside of the office, David enjoys reading, writing, architecture, theology, history, world travel, playing trivia and tennis, and having dinner at good local restaurants. He has a dry sense of humor and, as an enneagram type 5, suffers an insatiable curiosity about the world.