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.
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