How A Billionaire Stays A Billionaire

Earlier this week, the Post had a story about how our poor, beleaguered, under-appreciated owner was being dicked over for about $5 million by Fairfax County... or someone.

Short version... they took some of his Tysons land via eminent domain, paying him half a Dunn for the land. They later decided the estimate was too high, since the real estate market collapsed, and asked for an Austin Kearns back. He sued. He lost. Case closed. Aww. So sad.

But what caught my eye was the part at the bottom.

The $19 million that the developer will keep, however, could figure in the zoning approvals it has negotiated in Tysons Corner. With the second easternmost station set to open on the doorstep of Tysons Galleria in 2013, Lerner Enterprises has been moving to capitalize, planning six more office buildings, two condominium towers and a hotel.

But in receiving zoning approvals in 2003, Lerner Enterprises agreed that in exchange for density increases it would provide the land needed for Metro construction and would, "make such dedication or conveyance without monetary consideration."

I haven't seen a clear explanation of this anywhere, but if you piece it together, it might look like this: (and if someone's seen a better explanation, I'm all ears...)

Lerner agrees to give up a sliver of his land for free ("without monetary consideration") way back in '03 because of some zoning changes that would make him a bazillion more dollars with the rest of his land. So somewhere along the way, after getting those zoning changes and planning "six more ofice buildings, two condominium towers and a hotel" he decides he wants to double dip at the trough, getting the cash he said he didn't need initially, thanks to the eminent domain process.

So he gets the cake. Eats it. Enslaves the baker. Steals all the wheat from the third-world country. Taxes all the millers. Punches babies. And suckles profits from the Washington Nationals.

I really feel terrible for all the bad-mouthing of Jeff Smulyan I did now. :(