DeVito was previously a Maryland assistant attorney general and partner at Piper and Marbury law firm.
[3] DeVito was part of the Piper legal team assisting The Rouse Company to purchase farmland that would later become Columbia, Maryland.
[4] During his time as the CEO, DeVito changed the Rouse Company from being an "entrepreneurial developer" to one of the largest U.S. commercial property owners.
DeVito worked behind the scenes while James Rouse was the face of projects including the Harborplace and Faneuil Hall.
The company developed 77 shopping centers over the course of twenty years including Quincy Market, The Gallery at Market East, The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk, The Shops at National Place, South Street Seaport, and Union Station in St. Louis.
After DeVito retired from the Rouse Company in 1995, Baltimore Mayor, Kurt Schmoke, requested his assistance with an urban revitalization project spurred by a $100 million federal empowerment zone grant from the Clinton Administration.
[4] In late 1972, Governor Marvin Mandel announced that DeVito would lead a commission to study the structure of education in Maryland from kindergarten to college.
[1] In April 1987, the Small Business Administration recognized DeVito as Maryland's Minority Advocate of the Year.
The Wall Street Transcript named DeVito the top CEO in the real estate industry in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1988.
[14] On April 17, 1996, DeVito received a distinguished graduate award from University of Maryland School of Law.