August 25, 1986, An interview with Robert E. Simon

September 21, 2015: Robert Simon dies at the age of 101. See article below.

In 1986, the Reston Home Owners Association (RHOA) (renamed Reston Association in 1987) produced an eleven minute slide show to introduce the function of RHOA to new residents to the town.

On August 25, 1986, as part of the production, four representatives from RHOA, including me (Frank Harrell) took a two day trip to New York and spent the morning with Robert Simon, the founder of the new town of Reston, Virginia.

The production staff included Vicky Wingert, Bruce Boston, Jim Kirby, Frank Harrell and Tom Burgess.

The following is the interview as recorded for the slide show. Our purpose was to obtain oral comments from Mr. Simon to include in the show. When finished we used about one minute of Mr. Simon's voice in the presentation.

See the slide show at this address https://youtu.be/iBivAn2R6aw

Since I was using a VHS, video recorder to record the interview in high quality stereo, I was able to set up a camera and record the interview visually for historic purposes.

Little did I know back then that this tape would one day be available on the Internet, a medium that didn't exist for the general public at that time.

The only edits done on this presentation were to shorten long pauses, and to cut out breaks where Mr. Simon had to answer the phone.

Reston Association’s website http://www.reston.org/

September 21, 2015: Washington Post Article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/robert-e-simon-jr-real-estate-visionary-and-creator-of-reston-dies-at-101/2015/09/21/28271a6a-6094-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html

Robert E. Simon Jr., a real estate entrepreneur described as a visionary when he carved the planned community of Reston out of the Northern Virginia countryside in the 1960s, only to be forced out when tensions arose over financing and slow sales, died Sept. 21 at his home in Reston. He was 101.

The Reston Historic Trust announced the death. No cause was provided.

Although Mr. Simon remained indelibly linked to Reston — the Fairfax County town was named for his initials, R.E.S. — he spent much of his career in the New York City area. The scion of a prominent real estate family, he had in his 20s succeeded his late father as head of the corporation that operated Carnegie Hall.

Reston was a departure from most of Mr. Simon’s ventures, which included shopping centers and other commercial projects. But after selling Carnegie Hall to New York City in 1960 for ­$5 mil- lion, he said he needed to invest his profits quickly before being hit with a massive capital gains tax.

He was intrigued when a real estate broker told him of a parcel of land that had just become available: 6,750 acres of wooded fox-hunting territory 18 miles west of Washington.

The broker told Mr. Simon that three huge pluses were nearby: a superhighway called the Capital Beltway; a world-class airport, Dulles International; and a high-speed access road that linked the Beltway and the airport.