Pioneer Of Tysons Development Gerald Halpin Dies

TYSONS CORNER, VA—Gerald Halpin, a pioneer of major commercial and residential development, died Monday Jackson Hole, Wyo., Washington Business Journal reports. He was 94.

He was CEO of real estate development company West-Group Management LLC. He founded the company in 1962, and that same year received 125 acres that would become part of Tysons Corner. He oversaw West-Gate and West-Park office parks in Tysons, as well as 12 million square feet of space around the DC area.

The office parks were an innovation at the time, leading the way to Tysons becoming a business hub in Fairfax County and a Metro-accessible destination.

"Mr. Halpin was one of the giants —a man who could see future possibilities and who made them reality,:said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. "He was the first to understand the value of Tysons Corner and to realize that it could become a place for people to work and to live."

In 2010, West-Group sold its Tysons land to DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners. Halpin moved to Wyoming in 2013 after selling his $25 million home near George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.

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