Konterra
In 1981, Gould and other members of his family purchased 2,200 acres (890 ha) of gravel pits straddling I-95 near Laurel, Maryland. The following year, Gould proposed building a model mixed-use community named Konterra at the site. Gould broke ground in 1991 on three speculative buildings in Konterra.
The development stalled due to a lack of transportation infrastructure at the site. Gould asked Maryland state and local officials to build an off-ramp from I-95 to the planned community, extend the Metro's Green Line to the site, and build Maryland Route 200 (the "Intercounty Connector") through the community. Gould had been a steady financial backer of Parris Glendening, a Democrat who was elected Governor of Maryland in 1994.
But when the Glendening administration refused to approve the Intercounty Connector, Gould threw his backing behind Republican challenger Robert Ehrlich, who was elected in 2002. Although Maryland law limits donations to state candidates for office to just $4,000 per election cycle, the law does not prevent a business person from making donations through corporations they own. Using this loophole, Gould gave Ehrlich $50,500 between 1999 and 2006, $21,000 Ehrlich's running mate Michael Steele, and $163,100 to Maryland Republican candidates for state and federal office. During the same period, he gave just $750 to Martin O'Malley, mayor of Baltimore (who was elected governor in 2006). Gould declined to comment on the donations for the Washington Post, and Ehrlich defended them by noting that his wife was a long-time friend of Gould's sister-in-law. Ehrlich admitted that he met with Gould about Konterra several times.
On July 12, 2005, Ehrlich approved construction of the $2.4 billion, 18-mile (29 km).
In October 2007, Gould Property said Konterra would be a $3 billion development containing luxury homes, townhouses, and condominiums; a business district; and central entertainment, office, and retail space. The project's two phases, Konterra and Konterra Town Center, would break ground in 2009. The Prince George's County Planning Board approved preliminary designs and plans for 500-acre (200 ha) Konterra Town Center East in August 2008. These plans laid out 4,500 residential units and 5,900,000 square feet (550,000 m2) of office and retail space. Prince George's officials said that more detailed plans would be considered in the fall of 2009, with an eye toward breaking ground in late 2009 or early 2010, and completion of the community within 12 to 20 years.
Read more about this topic: Kingdon Gould III, Life and Career