By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A group of Realtors in Prince George's County is criticizing developer Milton V. Peterson for hiring a realty company from Virginia to handle residential listings at National Harbor.

The Realtors say they, like most minority contractors from the county, are not reaping any financial benefits from the taxpayer-subsidized project.

But National Harbor officials say county brokers have profited from the project.

"We've reached out and worked with the broker community" in the county, said Andre Gingles, a National Harbor lawyer.

Gingles said that at least 44 transactions were made with Prince George's brokers, who made $650,000 in commissions. About 50 transactions were made through McWilliams Ballard, a real estate firm based in Alexandria. He said the firm was selected because of its national reputation and its work handling Prince George's condo sales. Gingles said the majority of the sales at National Harbor have been made without a broker because thousands of people registered to be contacted by the sales office.

"Having put together the list over the past two years, we contacted those folks directly," Gingles said. "And that lowered the number of broker transactions that would have been done. . . . Once we move through the list and exhaust the list, we will continue to enhance the relationship with the Prince George's brokers."

Criticism by the Realtors again raises questions about how much developers who receive tax breaks and other incentives to construct large projects in Prince George's should give back to county-based businesses and the communities in which they are building.

This year, Peterson came under fire when lawmakers learned that 12 of the 361 contracts issued to build National Harbor went to minority-owned businesses in the county. Peterson pledged to give 30 percent of the work at National Harbor to local or minority-owned firms. He met that goal by turning to white firms based in Prince George's or minority-owned firms outside of the county. About 4 percent of the work went to minority-owned firms based in the county.

Peterson's pledge, in part, led to the county agreeing to designate National Harbor a special tax district and issue $160 million in bonds to pay for roads, sewers and other infrastructure.

"I feel that we should get some of the listing business, not just at National Harbor but at Woodmore [Towne Centre at Glenarden], places where there is a public-private partnership, where county funds are being used," said Ruth Wright, a Realtor who has organized the Prince George's Real Estate Agents for Change.

More than 100 people, including some elected officials, attended a meeting at the Country Club at Woodmore in Mitchellville recently to discuss ways to prevent county real estate agents from being squeezed out of large development projects built with the help of county dollars.

"The broker arrangement definitely concerns me," said county State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) who attended the meeting. "The idea behind economic development in the county is for other businesses that are in the county to benefit from the project."

Wright said the group is devising a strategy, which probably will include lobbying lawmakers to place strict requirements for local real estate agents to list properties in developments that are in part publicly subsidized. Wright said that what Peterson did is common. But she said that does not make it fair.

Wright's group is acting without the support of the Prince George's County Association of Realtors. Linda Simpson, president of the association, said the "board does not solicit business for members. We are all competitors."

Jerry Mathis, a Realtor, said the board should advocate for its members in this situation. He said the new group is organizing because the brokers need a voice. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) questioned the timing of the Realtors' criticism. She said she told the group that the time to raise concerns is when agreements are being made, not afterward.

Del. Aisha N. Braveboy (D-Prince George's) said the issues raised by the Realtors are a natural progression of the concerns raised by the minority contractors.

"We need to grow industries in our county," Braveboy said. She said with so many massive developments in the pipeline in Prince George's, "there is a great potential for wealth creation."