John W. Rogers, the corporation's chairman, emphasizes that thewhile the Letter of Intent only starts the negotiation process,"the Board is committed to moving the process forward, and toproviding opportunities for members of the Lennar team to meet withour Board, staff and consultants, community leaders, and members ofthe community at large."

Kenneth Goff, executive director of the corporation, alsostresses that both his group and Lennar want to wrap up thenegotiations as quickly as possible. "We expect to move forwardquickly with a mutually agreed work plan and schedule related tomaster planning, permitting, and contract scope with MassHighwayand the Federal Highway Administration," he notes.

The agreement with Lennar is significant as the corporation hasbeen looking for a master developer with whom to create apublic/private partnership for nearly two years, ever since a planby the VA-based Mills Corp. to develop a huge mall on a 155-acreparcel on the site was dropped because of fierce local opposition.The $250 million mall was to have been the centerpiece of theproperty.