Real Estate 2024: ROBERT C. ‘BOB’ KETTLER

While a student at George Washington University in 1974, Kettler got his start in real estate by remodeling apartments. A third-generation builder and the product of a long line of real estate developers, he left school to focus on work. After discovering a passion for community development, he founded real estate development company Kettler in 1977.

With a mission to build planned communities with access to transit and infrastructure, 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.

In March, the Leesburg Town Council approved the town’s first data center project, a 33-acre, 54-megawatt proposal from Kettler and partner Springfield East.

On the advice of the late Fairfax developer John “Til” Hazel Jr., Kettler, then in his early 20s, bought up as much land in the county as he could. 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 such as Tysons Corner Center, The Boro and One Loudoun.