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John T. ‘Til’ Hazel, legendary developer who transformed Northern Virginia, dies at 91

InsideNoVa.com

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John Tilghman “Til” Hazel Jr., an attorney and Northern Virginia real estate mogul who developed Tysons Corner and changed the landscape of Fairfax County, died Tuesday at his home in Broad Run. He was 91.

Hazel was born in Washington, D.C., in 1930, grew up in Arlington and went to Harvard University, where he earned a history degree in 1951 and a law degree in 1954. He served with the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, then joined an Arlington law firm, where he helped obtain land to build Interstate 495.

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Hazel helped companies develop both major shopping malls in Tysons and in 1971 founded Hazel/Peterson Cos., which developed residential and commercial projects throughout the county.

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Hazel was also a major patron of George Mason University beginning in the 1950s, and was a driving force in the school’s “fight to establish its Arlington law school,” Virginia Business magazine reported.

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