N.Va. Ballpark Backers Don't Own Most of Site

Cobbling together the numerous parcels needed for the 450-acre Dulles development, however, has proved to be more difficult. The full extent of Diamond Lake's acquisitions remains unknown, and executives will not discuss their holdings.

But a representative of the family who runs Chantilly Crushed Stone, owners of more than 220 acres at the site -- including the quarry touted as the project's centerpiece -- said the company has not agreed to sell the property and is not in negotiations with the baseball developers.

Another key landowner said the same thing. "There are no negotiations on this issue so far," said Samir Kawar, an investor and former government minister in Jordan who owns 75 prime acres at the site. "I have received nothing serious."

Still, in a May letter to major league executives, Paul underscored the venture's success at assembling an attractive site.

"Let me tell you in confidence that most of the land parcels comprising this stunning 450-acre site are now under the control of the development group, including the property where the ballpark will sit," Paul wrote, according to a copy of the correspondence.

There are more than 50 parcels at the site, which is bordered by Route 28, the Dulles Toll Road, Old Ox Road and along Rock Hill Road and the Fairfax border. Combined, Kawar and Chantilly Crushed Stone own about two-thirds of the land but just 20 parcels, according to the latest Loudoun data. Bensignor would not say whether his group controls the majority of parcels. One landowner said the authority had given baseball executives a false impression, a contention Paul disputed.

"In any statements I've ever made, I don't think I've been deceptive at all," Paul said.

Diamond Lake representatives have negotiated sales agreements with many small land owners. Those sales are not yet completed and therefore not entered into the public record. None of the principals would discuss price.

Paul and Bensignor said their plan is to put the stadium north of the black glass Center for Innovative Technology, though the location could change.

That's the neighborhood where Edwin Bush's great-grandfather, a former slave, and his family have owned land since the late 19th century. Bush and more than a dozen other descendants reached an agreement with Leonard "Hobie" Mitchel, president of the Diamond Lake development group, to sell 20 acres, contingent on Loudoun's granting developers the zoning they request for a mixed-use development.

Bush said the push to transform the remnants of the small black community of Rock Hill into a flashy development leaves him divided. Although he likes the idea of cashing out and moving south, he said he also can't shake memories of his family's thwarted efforts to build on its land over the decades. Bureaucracy, land-use rules and perhaps racism were to blame for that earlier failure, which helped drive people away, he said.

"All this land out here used to be owned by blacks," Bush said. "It used to be a community. The older members died, and the younger folks wanted a better life, so they moved. I don't think they found it."

Bush said developers were initially coy about their intentions for the land. "They've been trying to keep us in the dark so we wouldn't hold out and make more money off it," he said.

His brother, Louis Bush, who had long ago moved to Newport Beach, Calif., and recently returned to help organize the sale, is less conflicted. "This would be a good building block for the growth in this area," Louis Bush said.