[Steve_Seattle]

"The BSA was/is providing a service to the city. I call it bartering, yet others are calling it “free land”. I guess that’s the distinction."

Sometimes the government will invoke the principle of "mutual offsetting benefits" ("MOB") to justify "giving" land to a private entity for some purpose which is deemed to have a public benefit of greater or equal value. So a city might give land to a developer who wants to build an art museum or low-income housing or a free health clinic for the poor..

[SZonian]

Thanks, not a lawyer, yet I figured I was on some kind of “right” track.

Cheers,
SZ