The University System of Maryland's Board of Regents debated the issue in a series of closed meetings in August. One of those arguing for the deal was Richard E. Hug, a regent who is Ehrlich's chief fundraiser.
Hug said in an interview yesterday that a developer -- Cambridge real estate broker Robert Spedden -- expressed interest in building a conference center, retirement community and golf course on the site.
"It's a very expansive piece of property, and the first thing that came to my mind was, 'Does the university need all that?' " Hug said. "The logic dictates that you look at it and see if you need it all."
Donald F. Boesch, president of the environmental science center at the site, said he urged the regents to reject the sale. "After seeing what he had in mind, there was no way we could do that," he said.
In a divided vote, the Board of Regents rejected the proposal after learning that easements prevented them from proceeding without approval from Cambridge, Hug said. "In the short term, that's off the table," Hug said. "That doesn't mean it will be off the table forever."
In fact, the university is in the process of creating an inventory of unused land on each campus that officials there might be willing to sell.
Ehrlich said similar efforts are underway at other state agencies. Records released by the Department of Natural Resources this week show that agency has identified nearly 3,000 acres of property that could be sold.
That effort also has detractors. One internal memo warned Ehrlich that selling off land could generate "perception problems." That has turned out to be true of the Hackerman deal, which collapsed after lawmakers objected to Ehrlich aides' identifying a buyer for the land even before it was declared surplus.
Wesley Johnson, who wrote the memo, described in an interview last week the consensus on his staff that the state should not "become a land broker."
"Word was out there," he said. "I even got a letter from a woman in Delaware who said she heard that state parks are up for sale and wanted to know if she could make us an offer."
Staff writer Joshua Partlow contributed to this report.
