Robert "Bob" Cutlip, NAIOP leader and former chair of the NAIOP Board of Directors, has passed away.

Cutlip led the board in 2006, a year of tremendous growth and achievement for the association. Throughout the year, Bob visited more than 20 chapters to deliver his message to chapters on what he identified as two key trends for 2026: diversity and globalization.

He was a 31-year NAIOP member, having joined the association in 1993.

A crowning achievement of Bob’s leadership was the launch of a program designed to engage young professionals in NAIOP. The Emerging Leaders Award (now known as the Developing Leaders Award) was established to recognize rising stars both in NAIOP and the industry. NAIOP began its long-term partnership with the Real Estate Associate Program (REAP), an apprentice program to engage minorities in commercial real estate.

Under his leadership, NAIOP expanded its international presence by forming a partnership with the Mexico Association of Industrial Parks (AMPIP), as well as leading a global trade mission to explore China’s growing economy and real estate development trends.

During Bob’s term as chair:

• Membership exceeded 14,000 members.
• Three chapters launched: Kansas City, Northern Nevada and St. Louis.
•  NAIOP partnered with four real estate associations to host a landmark conference on mixed-use development.
•  Legislative affairs priority issues included leasehold improvement depreciation, the continuation of terrorism insurance, Endangered Species Act restructuring and brownfields reform.

After serving as chair, Bob continued his involvement in NAIOP as a member of the Industry Trends Task Force, the Industrial Development I National Forum, and as a governor and trustee with the NAIOP Research Foundation, where he served as chair in 2014. At the beginning of 2024, Bob had been appointed as the Senior Visiting Fellow with the Research Foundation, a role he’d looked forward to keeping him connected to the industry and NAIOP throughout his retirement.