McCain aided developer's bargain-price purchase of Fort Ord land

[JackBeck]

Developer/friend bought SunBay site for mere $250,000
By JULIA REYNOLDS
Herald Staff Writer


An Arizona businessman with help from Sen. John McCain's office paid the federal government a mere fraction of the market value when he bought a Fort Ord land parcel in 1999, an Army appraisal obtained by The Herald shows.

Donald R. Diamond, an 80-year-old real estate developer, lobbyist and top fundraiser for McCain's presidential campaign, bought the land for $250,000, though it was valued at $7.2 million, according to Pentagon appraisals made three years before the sale.

He held on to the parcel for a little more than two years before selling it and the buildings on it for an estimated profit of more than $18 million.

When negotiating with the Army over the no-bid sale, Diamond had more than one advantage on other potential buyers. He held a lease on the land that would have made it difficult for the Army to find another buyer. When Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, later criticized the Army for "giving away" Fort Ord land during the 1990s, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Paul "PJ" Johnson said, "That was a very complicated realignment and closure at Fort Ord."

But it was McCain's office, as reported earlier this year by The New York Times and The Herald, that Diamond credited with helping smooth out problems he encountered. At the time, McCain served on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The appraisal documents were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request. Diamond and McCain's Senate office declined to comment for this story.

Much more at:http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_10703347?nclick_check=1

[JackBeck]

1. Am I alone in thinking that this was a bit shady?

[msedano]

2. Rich get richer...

and those of us who took our Basic and AIT at Ft. Ord woulda leaped at the chance to lease or buy even a small portion of the most beautiful land in urban California. We used to take our morning PT on a field overlooking Monterrey Bay. We'd watch as the rainstorms would sweep across the bay headed directly at us. Just as the rain began to hit us, the Drill Sgt would ordure us to crouch on the ground and pull our waterproof parkas over us. Then we'd huddle in the dark as the rain pelted our shelter, the water pooling at our boots. The rain abated and we'd stand and resume our daily dozen.

I took a nostalgic drive through the post last week, it's now a Cal State Campus and most of the main post buildings have be replaced by concrete tilt-up structures. Here's a street corner of some sentimental value:



past, present, future indeed. I wonder how many of my training buddies had no future?