Real Estate 2023: ROBERT C. ‘BOB’ KETTLER

Coming from a long line of real estate developers, Kettler got his start in real estate in 1974, remodeling apartments while still a student at George Washington University. He left school to focus on work. Discovering a passion for community development, he founded real estate development company Kettler in 1977.

Founded in 1977, his company has developed more than 30,000 multifamily units, 10 million square feet of commercial space and more than 75,000 homes in 40 master-planned communities, as well as numerous mixed-use communities in the Washington, D.C., area.

While Kettler was still in his early 20s, Fairfax developer John “Til” Hazel Jr. advised him to buy up as much land in the county as he could — advice Kettler took seriously. His first big development was Sully Station in Centreville, a 3,000-home community. Over the years, Kettler has been involved with developing major Northern Virginia projects like Tysons Corner Center, The Boro and One Loudoun, as well as some developments in North Carolina.

Kettler entered the Tampa, Florida, market this year with the March groundbreaking of Gas Worx, a 50-acre mixed-use development in the Ybor City neighborhood.