Lerner Enterprises is a company owned by the Lerner family that develops and invests in real estate in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. The company has developed more than 20 million square feet of real estate.

History

The company was founded in 1952 by lawyer

Ted Lerner Theodore Nathan Lerner (October 15, 1925 – February 12, 2023) was an American real estate developer and managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team. He was the founder of Lerner Enterprises, the largest private landowne ...

, after he borrowed $250 from his wife. In 1958, the company developed its first shopping center, Wheaton Plaza (now

Westfield Wheaton Westfield Wheaton, formerly known as Wheaton Plaza, is a , two-level indoor shopping mall in Wheaton, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, D ...

) in partnership with the Gudelsky family. Shortly thereafter, it bought 2 parcels of land in

Tysons, Virginia Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, spanning from the corner of Virginia State Route 123, SR 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and Virginia State Route 7, SR 7 (Leesburg Pike ...

. In 1968, the company completed development of

Tysons Corner Center Tysons Corner Center is a large shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (between McLean and Vienna, Virginia). It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, clim ...

. In 1972, the company completed development of Landover Mall in

Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...

, but the mall was closed and demolished in 2002. The company solicited the site as a location for a new headquarters of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. In 2003, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the company and

Guggenheim Partners Guggenheim Partners, Inc is a global investment and advisory financial services firm that engages in investment banking, asset management, capital markets services, and insurance services. Guggenheim has c. 2,000 employees. The firm has offices ...

acquired 1275 K Street NW in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from

JBG Smith JBG SMITH Properties is a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of December 31, 2024, the company owned 38 operating properties including 16 apartment complexes with 6,781 units, 20 commercial properties com ...

. In 2004, in partnership with Tower Companies, the company began development of a 300,000 square foot shopping centre in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and in 2008, the partners completed 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd, a

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

platinum building in Tower Oaks, which became both companies' headquarters. In 2007, the company completed construction of 20 M Street SE and in 2009, the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

leased 94,435 square feet of space in the building. In 2008, the company began constructing a 2-tower combination

Hilton Garden Inn Hilton Garden Inn is an American chain of full-service hotels targeting business and leisure travelers looking for an upscale experience. The brand is owned by Hilton Worldwide. , it has 862 properties with 126,086 rooms in 49 countries and ter ...

and

Homewood Suites by Hilton Homewood Suites by Hilton is an American chain of all-suite Extended stay hotel, residential-style hotels owned by Hilton Worldwide. , the chain consists of 505 hotels in 4 countries and territories with 57,545 rooms. 490 Homewood Suites hotels ar ...

hotel in Rockville. In 2013, the company broke ground on a 433-unit apartment complex across the street from its

Dulles Town Center Dulles Town Center is a two-level enclosed shopping mall in Sterling in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located north of Washington Dulles International Airport. It is part of the Dulles Town Center census-designated place for population st ...

project and in 2014, the company broke ground on additional developments at Dulles Town Center. In 2015, the company was subject to a lawsuit after it demolished portions of its

White Flint Mall White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Maryland Route 355, Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and was demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, ...

to redevelop the site, in violation of a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

with

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

. In February 2016, the company sold 2 office buildings in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. In 2016, the company completed development of 1775 Tysons in

. In 2018, the company announced that it was looking to sell the site of the former Landover Mall. On February 12, 2023, Ted Lerner died at age 97.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Rockville, Maryland Lerner family Real estate companies of the United States Shopping center management firms American companies established in 1952 1952 establishments in Maryland Real estate companies established in 1952