Jill Parks is a commercial real estate, zoning, land use/urban development partner in Ballard Spahr’s Real Estate Department with over 20 years of experience. She represents major developers, investors, and national, regional, and local companies in all areas of the land planning, zoning, and development process, from site selection through diligence, contract negotiation, entitlements, site plan review, easements, implementation agreements, signage approvals, administrative interpretations, zoning amendments, and dispositions.
Jill focuses her practice on the planning and development of large, complex, transit-oriented, mixed-use developments in Northern Virginia, such as Comstock’s iconic Reston Row and Reston Station projects, Arbor Row, Halley Rise and Hunters Branch, among others.
In addition to sophisticated office, hotel, residential, retail and urban infill residential projects, Jill has developed a niche in energy, gaming, and health care matters.
Representative Experience
Representative Matters
Real Estate Practice
- Secured approval of Comstock’s original Reston Row rezoning of 33 office parcels (8 acres) together with comprehensive amendments in 2020 and 2023 and now-pending in 2025 (1.63 million square feet)
- Obtained approval of Comstock’s 2018 comprehensive amendment of previous Reston Station (10 acres) 2010 entitlements (1.735 million square feet)
- Successfully prosecuted Comstock’s 2022 Comprehensive Sign Plan for Reston Station and Reston Row (and amended it several times thereafter and with pending special exception in 2025)
Professional Highlights
Pro Bono Experience
Jill has a wide range of pro bono experience:
- Ran the Holocaust Reparations Project, managed 10-15 cases of survivors petitioning for benefits
- Jill was trained by the Veterans Consortium and provided appellate service to veterans who were denied benefits
- Worked with the Legal Counsel for the Elderly, an organization that provides free legal services to Washington, D.C., senior citizens in need
- Worked on appeals requests from incarcerated prisoners with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project
Professional Activities
American Bar Association
Recognition & Accomplishments
The Best Lawyers in America, "Ones to Watch," Land Use and Zoning Law, 2024; Real Estate Law, 2024
Speaking Engagements
Moderator, Reston’s Office and Retail Market Update, The Future of Reston & Herndon, Bisnow, February 15, 2024
Moderator, Reston’s Retail Market: Tenant, Leasing, and Demands, The Future of Reston & Herndon, Bisnow, May 10, 2023
Moderator, New Tenants, New Demands, The Future of Reston & Herndon, Bisnow, April 28, 2022
Credentials
Education
University of Illinois College of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2004)
Order of the Coif
University of Oxford (B.A., study abroad program, 1998-1999)
Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., magna cum laude, 2000)
Admissions
District of Columbia
Illinois
Virginia
Missouri (Inactive)