NAIOP Maryland mourns the recent passing of Clay Emory, founder of Emory Hill & Company and a 2004 recipient of the Chapter’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Clay was a giant of a man in both body and spirit and began his involvement in NAIOP Maryland in the 1980s. He was also a NAIOP National Forum member during the 1990s in the “build-to-suit” group. Clay always shared the conversations he had on the national level with NAIOP-MD members, as he realized the common challenges faced by all in the industry.
Following his graduation from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in Industrial Engineering, Clay worked for DuPont for a short period of time before entering the U.S. Army and serving two years as a weapons instructor. He explained that his service provided the best education he ever had and he learned so much about himself during that time.
Clay attended the Wharton Business School and earned a Masters of Business Administration in Finance, which paved the way for this first job in the commercial real estate industry. During his three years with The Rouse Co., Clay was intimately involved with initial development activities for the new town of Columbia.
He relocated to Rehoboth, Del. and began working for a single-family beach home developer before embarking on his own venture which started with a six-unit garden apartment building in Georgetown, an asset he held onto for this entire life.
Clay next ventured into the warehouse asset class and formed Tamarack Corporation with a partner, before founding Emory Hill & Company in the early 1980s, together with several partners. The company began by developing and managing commercial office and warehouse properties in New Castle County, Delaware before expanding to retail, commercial office and warehouse space throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Clay retired in 2002 and turned operations over to his son, Davis, but remained active with the formation of new partnerships. He served on many local boards, including the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins. In 2016, the business school received an endowment to create a named faculty chair, the R. Clayton Emory Chair in Real Estate and Infrastructure.
We offer our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones, including his wife of 67 years, Susanne.