Antonio Calabrese serves as the head of the Firm's Real Estate practice group and a member of the Cooley Business department. Resident in the Reston office, Mr. Calabrese's practice focuses on land use/zoning and complex real estate and commercial leasing matters.
Mr. Calabrese has forged a reputation for handling high-profile and complicated land use cases throughout Northern Virginia and has been recognized as one of the region's preeminent land use/zoning attorneys by:
The Washington Post - The Washington DC Area's Best Lawyers;
Legal BisNow - Top Real Estate Lawyer in the DC-Metro area series (2014);
Washington Smart CEO Magazine - Power Player of the Year (2013);
The Washington Business Journal - Top Washington Land Use/Zoning Lawyer;
Washingtonian – The Washington Region's 150 Most Powerful People (2008);
The Virginia Business Journal - Legal Elite - Virginia's Best Lawyers;
Richmond Magazine - Virginia Super Lawyers (2006 - 2012 editions);
The Best Lawyers in America (2006 - 2015);
The Best Lawyers in America 2013 Land Use and Zoning Lawyer of the Year
Legal Times - Leading Lawyer;
Chambers USA – Band #1 Ranking (2007 - 2013); and
Chambers USA – Star Individual in Northern Virginia Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use in 2012 and 2013
Legal 500 - Recognized for work in Real estate and Land use/zoning in 2013 US edition
Cooley's Reston Real Estate Team has been recognized with a #1 ranking in Northern Virginia by Chambers USA in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 – Cooley Ranking. The group was also honored as "Top Law Firm" by The Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors. This award recognizes the premier Real Estate Law Firm practicing in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, DC in 2012 - http://www.cooley.com/67926.
Mr. Calabrese represents major corporate entities, developers and national, regional and local companies in all facets of land use, including office, data center and web-hosting facilities, retail, industrial, mixed-use, residential, entertainment, telecommunications, hotel and large-scale, planned communities, including:
America Online – oversaw zoning approvals for AOL's 2.2 million square-foot Dulles headquarters and computer/technology center;
Brambleton – secured a series of rezoning approvals which included 2,000+ new homes and a sizeable active adult/elderly housing community;
Broadlands & Broadlands South Community –obtained approval for 3,500 homes and 3.8 million square feet of commercial and retail development on 1,600 acres located along the Dulles Greenway;
Capital One Financial Corporation – overseeing a major, pending rezoning of a 4.9 million square-foot, mixed-use, transit-oriented development for Capital One's prominent Tysons Corner headquarters (see press coverage here - Capital One nears zoning approval in Tysons Corner; Expansion of Capital One's headquarters in Tysons Corner is approved);
MITRE – currently advising MITRE on numerous development and strategic real estate matters, including a pending, major rezoning for the campus of this successful Federally-Funded Research and Development Center;
One Loudoun – secured approval of a 360-acre, 3.7+ million square-foot, mixed-use, community employment center, including 2.8 million square feet of office development and 600,000 square feet of retail, luxury hotel, movie theater, restaurants and residences. One Loudoun is the recipient of the coveted Washington Smart Growth Alliance ("WSGA") award, and has the distinction of being the first such recognized project in Loudoun County;
Raytheon – the Cooley team served as lead counsel on a major, long-term lease for over 700,000 square feet and 1,500+ employees, which represented one of the largest private tenant leases in the country in 2009. Cooley also secured a very significant state and local incentive package for this successful defense contractor;
Reston Town Center - secured rezonings, development plan and special exception approvals within the 450-acre, 7+ million square-foot, mixed-use Town Center for Accenture, Titan, Microsoft, Siebel, Sprint/Nextel, Oracle, TRW & NobleStar office towers, the Spectrum retail center, Stratford House, Trammell Crow, Archstone, Edgewater & West Market townhomes, condominiums and apartments;
Tysons Corner Center - oversaw a 3.2 million square-foot mixed-use, multi-phased expansion of one of the country's most successful regional malls, including office towers, high-density residential development, additional retailers and a boutique hotel; and,
Tysons-to-Dulles Metro Rail Line – the Cooley team has been at the center of numerous, major development projects surrounding the 11 planned stations and the $5+ billion Silver Line Metrorail extension.
Mr. Calabrese has also secured hotel, restaurant, and service approvals for Clyde's of Broadlands, the Loudoun Tech Center Restaurant Park, Marriott Courtyard, Homestead Village, Residence Inn and Springhill Suites hotels, Carmax, Don Beyer Volvo, Brown Nissan, BMW of Sterling, Lindsay Volkswagen and Ferrari/Maserati dealerships, as well as numerous churches and daycare facilities.
Mr. Calabrese served as the 2004 Chairman of the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and was selected as the Member of the Year in 2000.
Mr. Calabrese received a JD from the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law in 1986, where he served as Managing Editor of the University of Richmond Law Review. He received a BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia in 1983.
