One of the most influential figures in the last half-century of Washington, D.C.-area real estate is stepping back from his full-time role.

Ray Ritchey, senior executive vice president at BXP, entered into a new employment agreement through the end of this year that will have him working 50% of the time, the REIT said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Ritchey, 72, told Bisnow in an email Thursday morning that the announcement shouldn't be seen as his retirement — as proof, he said, he was typing the email from his 6 a.m. flight from BXP's Seattle office to its Los Angeles office.

He said the arrangement would allow him to "explore other professional, charitable and personal endeavors."

"I plan to continue to be effectively fully engaged professionally on both BXP projects and other real estate initiatives that do not conflict with my BXP duties!" Ritchey wrote in the email. "While we are facing challenging times, as we have learned in the past cycles, this is also when amazing opportunities are created. It is my goal to identify those projects for further consideration."

The part-time agreement gives Ritchey a salary of $750K this year plus a target bonus of $1.65M, the SEC filing said. It expires Dec. 31 and doesn't have an automatic renewal provision, according to the filing.

"Ray is one of the most recognized and respected figures in real estate in Washington, DC, and he contributes to BXP across many of our markets," BXP CEO Owen Thomas said in a statement. "We are delighted that Ray will continue to provide his time and talents to supporting BXP’s success."

Ritchey joined BXP in 1980 and is best known for developing Reston Town Center, a pioneering mixed-use development that created a new urban node in the D.C. suburbs.

In the last several years, Ritchey's D.C. team developed a series of build-to-suit projects for major office tenants, including Marriott International's new Bethesda headquarters, an 850K SF office tower for Fannie Mae in Reston and a new headquarters for the Transportation Security Administration in Springfield.

After winning those deals, Ritchey sat down with Bisnow in March 2018 and reflected on where he stood in his career.

"I'm turning 68 this year, I'll be 72 when these projects deliver," Ritchey said at the time. "Maybe I'll figure out something else, the next chapter. But for now, I'm very happy doing what I'm doing."

In addition to his work at BXP, Ritchey is the president of the board of the Spanish Education Development Center, for which he holds an annual Pub Games event that draws teams of real estate companies and has raised over $100K in some years for the organization.

He is also a founding member of NAIOP's Northern Virginia chapter and a member of the Federal City Council and the Economic Club of Washington. He has won a host of awards for his work in the region, including Urban Land Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.