Covington & Burling LLP | Biographies

Robert Gage is head of the firm's real estate practice and advises clients on matters including acquisitions, finance, leasing, construction and general commercial and non-profit organization law.

Mr. Gage has been counsel on transactions that include the sale of Pepco Holdings, Inc.’s Conectiv Energy’s 19-plant power generation subsidiary; acquisition and development of headquarter facilities for the National Academy of Sciences; the American Center for Physics and the Potomac Electric Power Company; the development of Bridgemarket in New York City; the development of the Washington Nationals’ baseball stadium on behalf of the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission; the development of Olde Towne, Raleigh, NC; and the redevelopment of The Brookings Institution’s headquarters and property.

Mr. Gage has advised the National Football League and the prospective owners of various professional sports teams with respect to ground leases, stadium and arena leases, development agreements and finance documents pertaining to professional sports teams.

Mr. Gage’s work on behalf of the Ourisman Automotive Group and the Foulger-Pratt Companies includes negotiation of significant ground leases and construction contracts. He has handled significant office leases on behalf of American Council of Life Insurers, American Petroleum Institute, American Trucking Associations, Inc., and Intercell USA, as well as scores of trade associations, DC Public Charter Schools and other not-for-profit organizations and law firms. He recently negotiated Covington's 400,000 square foot office lease at CityCenter in Washington, DC.

Mr. Gage serves as principal counsel to a number of organizations, including:

Ourisman Automotive Group
Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, lessee from the United States Government of Washington, DC's Union Station

Representative Matters

Union Station Redevelopment Corporation. Acts as outside general counsel, including the administration of USRC’s ground lease with the Federal Government and subordinate master sublease for the office and retail portions of the Union Station complex, establishment of the District of Columbia’s intercity bus terminal at Union Station, negotiation of air rights development agreements and access easements with respect to the Amtrak railroad yard and adjacent developments, and design, project management, and construction agreements and related financing for its Phase II expansion of the parking garage and numerous other projects. This award winning redevelopment project marked a renaissance for interstate passenger rail.
National Football League. Advised the NFL on numerous stadium financings, which are controlled by league requirements to protect the NFL from risks inherent in such financings. Objectives for the League include retention of stadium leases as team assets, regardless of financing defaults, and to ensure adequate League controls over the stadiums.
PEPCO. Represented Potomac Holding Inc. in the sale of its Conectiv Energy subsidiary with 19 power generation plants in 6 mid-Atlantic states, including resolution of over 200 title defects during a 3-month period between contract execution and closing, and negotiation of complex easements, ground leases and other significant land use documents. Represented PEPCO in the development of its DC headquarters facility.
DC Sports and Entertainment Commission. Represented the quasi-governmental agency in negotiations with Major League Baseball, prospective real estate developers, and the ownership of the Washington Nationals professional baseball club in establishing the new District of Columbia ballpark.
Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Advises the Foundation on continuous work on design, project management, and construction contracts on major capital improvements projects on the close of the National Cathedral, including the underground structured parking facility and classroom buildings and playing fields for Beauvoir School, NCS and St. Alban’s School.
GOJO Industries, Inc. Represented GOJO in the acquisition, design and reconstruction of the 260,000 square foot former B.F. Goodrich World Headquarters in Akron, Ohio, as GOJO’s headquarters, and other acquisition, construction and development projects. The GOJO headquarters development included a design contract among four design firms.
American Trucking Associations, Inc. Represented this prominent trade association in the disposition of its previous headquarters’ properties in a series of related transactions, as the lead tenant and joint owner in the development of an office building for its current headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and in the leasing of its new Capitol Hill office building.
RREEF. Represents this national institutional asset manager with respect to its leasing of a portfolio of multi-tenant office buildings in northern Virginia.
Ourisman Automotive Group. Serves as principal outside counsel for this group of automotive dealerships in the Washington, DC area, including acquisition of new dealerships, ground leasing, construction and development of dealership facilities, and redevelopment of excess property.
National Academy of Sciences. Represented the Academy in the development of a new downtown Washington office building and the $60,000,000 restoration of its historic headquarters building adjacent to the National Mall.