The Post's front page this morning has
a big profile of the Lerner family, which starts right off with the friction that has become standard between the Lerners and city officials over almost every aspect of the
new baseball stadium: "To District officials, the concrete columns rising along South Capitol Street represent the beginning of a sweeping renewal of the Anacostia River waterfront, not just the foundation of a new $611 million stadium for the Washington Nationals. For the team's owner, the family of 80-year-old billionaire shopping mall developer Theodore N. Lerner, there are more immediate goals. Every few days, the Lerners call or visit city officials with their latest desire: an executive dining room, and in the luxury suites, individual bathrooms and a special window glaze. They want close-in parking for the best-paying fans and have turned down several ideas for how to build it. They don't want to pay for cost overruns. Recently, Lerner himself wanted to know precisely where the team's souvenir store would be. When a city official described it, Lerner said he needed to see actual plans. [...] City officials hoped the family's development experience would bring high-quality services to the stadium and propel a waterfront revitalization, a major justification for building the ballpark with city money. But the Lerners also came with something else: an all-business approach that helps explain the friction with the city over the stadium."