"I got interested in what makes cities tick," Carr recalls. He began an odyssey, traveling to cities in Europe and translating what he saw into mental blueprints for his hometown.

In 1962, Oliver T. Carr Management Inc. was born. Carr planned to build and manage office and apartment buildings here. He threw himself into each new project; when he took over management of the old Mills building in DC, he helped tenants with the unreliable elevators.

Six years later, rioters set blocks of the District ablaze after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Many developers fled to the suburbs - but not Ollie Carr. He turned to building downtown. Every ounce of concrete he poured helped rebuild the city he loved.

From 1967 to 1993, the Carr company developed more than 11 million square feet of District office space and managed another 12 million square feet in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Carr built International Square and Metropolitan Square downtown, King Street Station in Alexandria, and Ballston Plaza in Arlington. He restored the Willard Hotel to its former glory as the grande dame of Pennsylvania Avenue. Carr was also Metro's first major private developer and developed much of DC's West End.

Ollie Carr has directed Downtown Progress (a civic group that pushed center-city renewal), served as a trustee of the Federal City Council, and led economic development for the Board of Trade.

This year one of Carr's sons, Thomas, took over as president of Carr-America Realty, which has moved beyond its Washington base. But Ollie Carr hasn't turned in his hardhat. Asked which of his buildings he's proudest of, Carr takes no time for reflection. "The next one," he says.