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Market Leader Profile

Virginia Business
September 2004

Gerald Halpin founded and served as president of more than 100 WEST*GROUP affiliated corporations and partnerships involved in the development and management of commercial and residential real estate in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Through his various companies he has been responsible for the development, redevelopment or construction of more than 13 million square feet of office, retail, residential and industrial space. As the original developer for Tysons Corner, Halpin and his partners introduced the concept of a mixed-use, master-planned office park in Northern Virginia.
Throughout his career, Halpin has been active in regional economic development and has served on several governors’ advisory boards. Recently he was awarded the 2004 Land Conservation Award from Fairfax County and the 2003 Virginia Life Achievement in Industry Award. Although in his 80s, Halpin remains active in his many businesses, usually working seven days a week at his company headquarters in Tysons Corner.

When did you know you wanted to be a developer?
Back in college I realized that the business world consisted of two types — capital and labor. I wanted to be a capitalist and leave the labor to other people. But to be a capitalist required money, and I soon discovered that the key to success is OPM — other people’s money. I needed to build a business using other people’s money since I didn’t have any.

How did you develop Tysons Corner?
Back in 1962 my co-founders — Charles B. Ewing, Thomas F. Nicholson and the late Rudolph Seeley — purchased 125 acres of farmland from the Ulfelder family, who had owned the property since the early 1920s. It was pretty far from downtown Washington, D.C., and there were many skeptics. We were the first to conceive the concept of a planned business park consisting of office space, research and development space and apartment buildings.

Where did the name WEST*GROUP come from?
All of our early projects had “West” in their names — originally because we were developing west of Washington, D.C. We had WEST*GATE and WEST*PARK Office Parks in Tysons Corner, Va., and then we did WEST*FARM and WEST*QUEST Technology Parks in suburban Maryland. My partners and I decided that we needed a holding company to manage all those “West” properties, so the name WEST*GROUP seemed to make the most sense.

How did you get started in business?
I served four years in a naval construction battalion during World War II. That’s where I learned about construction and development. When I got out of the service I went to work for Atlantic Research Co., managing their facilities across the country for the next 15 years. In 1960 I co-founded my own company, Commonwealth Capital Inc. which was WEST*GROUP’s predecessor. Our company went on to develop a 700,000-square-foot shopping center in Alexandria, Va., known as Landmark Center. At the time it was the first regional shopping mall in a metropolitan area.

What other types of projects have you been involved with?
We have quite a bit of experience developing hotels and resorts, having served as the chairman of Alexandria Management Corp., which owned six hotels and operated seven hotels in the mid-Atlantic. And we have developed residential communities in Virginia, like Bellevue Estates, a 1,500-acre residential community in Warrenton; Evans Farm, a new community in McLean, and we are moving forward with plans to construct four high-rise condominium towers in Tysons Corner.

What has contributed to your success?
I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to surround myself with great people.

Return to Virginia Business - September 2004