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The Metropolitan Opera in New York City could find itself the unexpected beneficiary of a multimillion-dollar gift under the terms of a Washington, D.C., heiress’s donation to the Washington National Opera, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In 1996, National Opera life chair Betty Brown Casey gave the company $18 million to purchase a building that was to be developed as an opera house. After construction costs became prohibitive, the company sold the building for $28.2 million, and the net proceeds were added to the company’s existing endowment. However, the funds from Casey came with the unusual stipulation that should that company fail to remain independent the gift would be rescinded and transferred to the Met.

That day could soon come to pass. In March, the National Opera began discussions with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to address the company’s financial challenges, including a debt of $11 million and assets that declined by 16 percent, or more than $7 million, during the 2009 fiscal year. According to the Journal, the plan under consideration would mimic the center’s relationship with the National Symphony Orchestra; the center would assume the opera’s assets and liabilities, and the opera would cede approval on artistic and budgetary matters. Both organizations say they are discussing their future relationship as a result of the 2013 expiration of their rental contract.

Casey’s gifts to the National Opera reportedly constitute between half and two-thirds of the company’s total endowment, which was $30.5 million at the end of 2009, making the amount of the Met’s potential windfall between $15 million and $20 million. If transferred, the gift would represent a much-needed injection of funding for the Met, which saw its net assets decline by 38 percent last year; its endowment at the end of 2009 totaled $247 million.

The National Opera has expressed its willingness to honor the terms of Casey’s gift. “Washington National Opera is grateful for the generosity of all of its donors,” said National Opera spokesperson Michelle Pendoley, “and abides by all terms related to all gifts.”