David Hartman

Partner

David Hartman has a diversified land use and real estate development practice, including experience in a broad range of land development permitting, entitlement, and natural resource issues on behalf of landowners and developers. His practice focuses on the representation of clients in the areas of zoning, planning, and entitlements law, including representation before city councils, boards, commissions, and other governmental entities. He has worked on diverse real estate projects, including a variety of multifamily, mixed use projects, single family residential and master planned projects, hotels, office buildings, vacant land, and condominiums, among others. He represents some of the most active multifamily developers in Central Texas, and has unique experience in vested development rights/grandfathering, public-private partnerships, development agreements, annexation, and Board of Adjustment variances. His practice encompasses environmental and regulatory compliance issues arising under the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and other natural resource regulatory matters. He has extensive experience in all aspects of conservation transactions, including both fee title acquisitions and conservation easement conveyances, along with conservation banking and related funding mechanisms and programs for conservation acquisitions. Years of working in and around local, county, state, and federal governmental agencies and legislative bodies (both prior to and after obtaining his law degree) allows him to offer clients unique insights to their dealings with governmental entities and related regulatory matters.

Texas Tech University School of Law, J.D.

Texas A&M University
B.S., Agricultural Economics
M.S., Agricultural Policy

Member, American Bar Association: State & Local Government, Past Chair, Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee; Real Property; Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Sections

Member, State Bar of Texas: Real Estate, Probate and Trust; Environmental and Natural Resources Sections

Austin Bar Association, Real Estate Law Section: Past Chair Board of Directors, Past Chair Land Development Seminar

Home Builders Association of Greater Austin: Nash Phillips President’s Award, 2022, Vice President, Government Relations (covering five central Texas counties), Executive Committee, Board Member; HomePAC Trustee; Steering Committee, Williamson County and Hays County Chapters

Urban Land Institute, Austin District Council: Management Committee 2017-2018; Multifamily Housing Council Co-Chair

Real Estate Council of Austin: Board Member, 2003-07; Past Co-Chair, Legislative Committee, and Chair, Transportation Committee; Austin Policy Committee member

Congress for New Urbanism, Central Texas Chapter, Member

Texas Land Trust Council: Board Member (2010-2016), Governance Committee Chair

Legislative Aide (Agriculture) to former U.S. House of Representatives House Agriculture Committee Chair Larry Combest, 1990-1991

Legislative Aide (Agriculture and Natural Resources) to former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, 1991-1996

State Bar of Texas

Author, Risky Business: Vested Real Property Development Rights – The Texas Experience and Proposals for the Texas Legislature to Improve Certainty in the Law, 30 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 299 (1999)

Co-author, Senate Bill 1 and Texas Water Rights, CLE International 2nd Annual Conference on Land Use Law, January 2000

Co-author, Legal Basics for Development Agreements, 32 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 4 (2001)

Co-author, A Practical Guide to Habitat Conservation Banking Law and Policy, Natural Resources & Environment (2005)

Speaker, Texas Land Trust Council, Statewide Land Conservation Conference

University of Texas Land Use Planning Law Conference, Planning Committee Member (2002- present), Speaker (2010, 2014)