[BTinSF]

^^^In this case, it's more about politics than money. In the case of the TransBay tower, they need money to build the terminal and still don't have enough so they had little choice but to pick the developer who offered them far and away the most money. In this case, while the Port can use every dime it can get out of this site, there's no fixed requirement and they have the luxury of basing their decision on other considerations. In SF, "other considerations" usually involve political clout and from everything I read the Giants are pretty well wired in that department, certainly as compared to the other options.