A Road That Led To National Harbor

"He's doing this to kind of pave the way for his son, Jason," said Joe Gaskin, former president of the Prince George's County Contractors and Business Association. "You don't have be waking up at five in the morning to see if your trucks are on their way to get sand and gravel or whatever."

Within a year of selling his paving company, Jones surfaced as the partner of an Indiana firm bidding to buy the Rosecroft Raceway harness racing track in Fort Washington -- one of the sites under consideration for slots operations, should they be approved by the Maryland legislature. Jones, who is a registered Democrat, donated liberally to state and local officials of both parties, but had to take back $15,000 when he was found to have exceeded campaign-contribution limits. The Rosecroft deal eventually fell through, even after Jones tried to partner with other well-heeled funders. But in the end, he may still end up on the winning end of gambling venues if the legislature approves them for National Harbor.

And there are other projects that offer similar possibilities. Jones is working to develop a 90-acre site in Harford County, near Interstate 95, north of Baltimore. Two years ago, slots legislation advanced by the Maryland House of Representatives recommended that an unspecified site in Harford, within two miles of I-95, be designated for an off-track betting facility. Even if gambling is not approved, the area is poised to boom, as nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground stands to get nearly 13,000 new jobs under the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure Commission plan.

Beyond Maryland, Jones is also looking toward the District, where he is bidding to buy Greater Southeast Community Hospital and redevelop the campus. And he is seeking approval from the Surface Transportation Board to establish a short-line railroad in New England that would be used to transport trash, aggregate and other materials along the Eastern seaboard.

"If you want to earn above-market return for below-market risk, the way to do that is to diversify, invest in unrelated things," said Jason Jones, who earned an engineering degree like his father and then went on to get an MBA and a law degree. "I want to do something new and exciting, create something that's not the same-old, same-old."

National Harbor appears to fit the bill. The father-son duo earned a "seven-figure" fee to help oversee the $85 million infrastructure portion of the project, according to Peterson. They are equity partners -- 52 percent and 26 percent, respectively -- in the two $22 million buildings that feature 16,000 square feet of retail shops and 50,000 square feet of office space, according to Peterson and the Joneses. In addition, they hold about 26 percent equity in the building and land for the free-standing Grace's Fortune restaurant.

"They're both smart, work hard and are incredibly likable," Peterson said. "They're great partners and are going to be very successful in this business."

Carl Jones, however, recognizes that creating the kind of legacy wealth that will endure beyond generations is not necessarily a matter of setting up a business and installing an heir to run it.

"Even when the child wants to do it, he's got to work to get it done, and it doesn't always work out, because things change," he said. Then he recites another of his favorite adages: "It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It's the one that is the most adaptable to change."