$50,000 donation is being made in honor of Jay Archer, a Duke Realty leasing representative who partnered with Robert Reaumond; both men died from the disease just months apart.

When Jay Archer, a Vice President with Duke Realty, and Bob Reaumond, Executive Vice President of CBRE, worked together on a 1.3 million-square-foot, build-to-suit lease in Lebanon Business Park in 2003, little did they know that less than 15 years later they would both lose their lives to pancreatic cancer. At the time, their connection was finding a way to close one of the largest transactions in the country, not a disease that affects 1.6% of the U.S. population and remains one of the deadliest, with a five-year survival rate of only 9 percent.

In honor of Archer, who worked for the company for 33 years and was one of the company’s most accomplished professionals, Duke Realty has pledged $50,000 to The Robert A. Reaumond Foundation. After Bob’s death in 2017, his family formed the Foundation to support pancreatic cancer patients and their families, as well as to fund research.

“Jay was the consummate salesperson with a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude who, like Bob, courageously fought the disease until his passing in 2016,” said Jim Connor, Chairman and CEO of Duke Realty. “Given Jay and Bob’s relationship and their shared battle against pancreatic cancer, Duke Realty felt it was only fitting that we support the efforts of the Foundation to make things easier for other patients affected by this disease and to hopefully find a cure.”

Connor added, “Jay and Bob truly were both legends in the industry. Jay closed hundreds of transactions for our company and was well-known for his honesty, warmth and hard work. He earned the respect of our broker partners and tenants and set the standard for other leasing representatives in our company. Much as he did when trying to close a tough deal, he faced pancreatic cancer head on and didn’t go down without a fight.”

The Robert A. Reaumond Foundation was established in October 2018 to provide research grants to doctors and comprehensive cancer centers focused on cutting edge research to combat the effects of the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The Reaumond Foundation also provides financial assistance to families recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Bob’s Encore, a gala to raise funds for the Foundation, is held each year and raised $500,000 in the inaugural year thanks in part to Duke Realty. Parties interested in supporting the Foundation or sponsoring Bob’s Encore are encouraged to contact the foundation at https://www.bobsencore.org.

About Duke Realty

Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) is the leading domestic-focused industrial property REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) in the country. The company owns, maintains an interest in or has under development approximately 156 million rentable square feet of industrial assets in 20 major U.S. logistics markets. Duke Realty Corporation is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol DRE and is listed on the S&P 500. More information about