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DAVID ARMBRUST

David Armbrust has practiced law in Austin for approximately forty-eight years. He has been involved in numerous business, real estate, environmental, and public policy issues in the Central Texas area. He presently serves on the Board of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. He is a former President of the Real Estate Council of Austin, former Director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Association of Builders, Austin Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Colorado River Foundation.

David has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 1983 and has been recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as a “Super Lawyer.” He is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and was actively involved in the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan.

David served as a founding member and then Director/President of Hill Country Conservancy, a coalition of environmental and business leaders dedicated to preserving the environment through land conservation. He also served as a Director on the Brackenridge Hospital Development Council and Greater Austin Economic Development Corporation.

David was recognized by the Austin Business Journal in 2023 and 2024 as one of the most influential people in Central Texas.

Recognition

  • 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” in Land Use and Zoning Law in Austin by The Best Lawyers in America ®
  • 2024 Power Players by the Austin Business Journal
  • City of Austin Distinguished Award for Community Service
  • “Best in Business- Real Estate” by the Austin Business Journal
  • W. Neal Kocurek Commercial Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award
  • The Best Lawyers in America ® published by Woodward/ White, Inc. (1983-present)
  • Texas Monthly Super Lawyers ® published by Thompson Reuters (2003-2014)

Representative Experience

  • Lead attorney on numerous large-scale and complex real estate transactions
  • Primary lead in securing governmental entitlements for large scale commercial, residential, and mixed use development project
  • Negotiation of significant governmental tax and financial incentives for regional economic development projects
  • Creation of numerous special financing districts
  • Identification and negotiation of large scale infrastructure agreements for water, wastewater, and transportation facilities

Client Comments

“David has represented Endeavor Real Estate Group in a number of complex, challenging entitlement and public finance situations. David is simply best in class in his field. His competence and professionalism are matched by his dignity, integrity, and character. He garners the utmost respect from all the parties in the situations in which he is involved. We have very much enjoyed our relationship with David and look forward to working together for many years in the future.”

Kirk Rudy
Managing Principal
Endeavor Real Estate Group

“David Armbrust has worked with our company on several different major projects involving securing local government approvals, public financial assistance, lobbying for several changes in state law, and litigation. David is truly a gentleman and is well known and well-liked by all with whom he works. His style is to advocate on behalf of his clients efficiently and with clarity, and then to listen carefully to the feedback from the public officials. Further, he responds quickly, and in-depth to even the most complex set of circumstances. The information that he gives to his clients is concise, frank, and to the point. His advice is always well founded, complete, and directed towards achieving the goals of the client. As a large, multi-national, public corporation, it is most important that our interests are represented in the most competent, yet discrete manner. David presents a local face for our corporation in a manner that is both well trusted and respected, and can be relied upon to be of the highest integrity and competence.”

William Hammer
Vice President – Development
Simon Property Group

“David Armbrust has represented me in real estate contract as well as entitlement work for many years. He is helpful, articulate, and has a complete grasp of what it takes to do a deal. He is not a deal-breaking lawyer, but rather a deal maker, and he understands the importance of timely responses. Mr. Armbrust is my “go-to” guy for the tough deals.”

Jerry Winetroub
President
Jerald Winetroub Company

“Over the last 23 years, I’ve worked with David on more transactions and issues that I can possibly count. He has assisted me in strategy formulation, negotiating, structuring, and papering business transactions. David understands the business and legal aspects of transactions, and he is great at helping structure the business part of the deal without impeding my ability to get the deal done because of over-lawyering. He is very personable; he is confident, a problem solver, and a bridge builder. I normally expect a return phone call from consultants the same day; David gets back to me the same hour! David continually gives back to the community and the quality of life in the Austin metro area is much better because of his efforts. He is truly a ‘Best Lawyer’!”

Richard Maier
Vice President of Land Acquisition
Lennar Homes

“David Armbrust is an extremely experienced land use attorney who understands the real estate business and consistently works toward, and achieves, a business outcome that is optimal for his client. The depth of his knowledge is very helpful on complicated and/or unusual transactions. His interpersonal approach is very effective in negotiating beneficial outcomes without creating an adversarial climate. He is very highly respected by his peers, governmental officials, and the real estate community. His work is prompt and communication with his client is efficient and frequent. I would recommend him highly to anyone transacting real estate business in central Texas.”

Steve Clark
Cypress Real Estate Advisors, Inc.

“It is rare to find an attorney with such an impressive list of clients and projects combined with such dedication to the individual client. David is consistently responsive to our needs, delivering prompt, thoughtful advice that is informed by many years of local experience, many strong relationships throughout the community, and a real desire and ability to bring all interested parties to the table toward a constructive dialogue. On top of all that, he’s an absolute pleasure to work with!”

Mark Meyer
Vice President
Haas & Haynie Corporation