Robert Kerns

Biography: Rob is the Development Division Chief for the City of Alexandria, Virginia. He is a certified planner with 20+ years of experience working with communities. Sustainability and comprehensive planning are major focuses of Rob’s planning career, emphasizing the latest growth management, urban design, and circulation strategies. To advance sustainable planning he helped found and lead the APA Sustainable Communities Division. He also served as co-chair of the APA Smart Cities and Sustainability Taskforce. In his current role Rob works with many complex, urban development projects - Landmark Mall redevelopment, the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, and several mixed-use, waterfront projects along the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria. His position requires negotiating with developers to implement the City’s many progressive planning goals, such as green building, affordable housing, and public art, while working cooperatively with development teams to achieve optimum results.