Austin D. Hart

My Approach

I start by listening carefully to my client’s goals and plans. I help discover the most efficient path to achieving those objectives. Real estate projects typically have tight timelines, and unanticipated delays are usually expensive. I work to meet the client’s critical deadlines in an efficient and cost-effective manner. I work with the client to identify the risks that the client is likely to encounter and how best to minimize those risks. Since eliminating all risk is either impossible or excessively time-consuming and expensive, I assist the client in understanding and assessing those risks and deciding which are reasonably necessary to get the project done.

Practice Areas

Real estate
I represent clients in all phases of real estate transactions, including acquisitions, development, finance, operations, leasing, and sale. I have advised clients with different types of real estate projects, including commercial office buildings, retail shopping centers, institutional campuses, ski resorts, and planned recreational / residential and mixed use communities.

Education
A substantial portion of my practice focuses on the unique issues faced by colleges and universities and hospitals in the ownership, operation, and expansion of their campuses, including property tax exemption laws.

Land use
I have a special interest in land use planning and permitting and devote a substantial portion of my practice to compliance with Vermont’s complex land use regulation system, including Act 250. I have represented both owners and interested parties in administrative proceedings before various municipal planning commissions and development review boards, district environmental commissions, and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. I have seen the land use permitting process from both sides of the table, having served for over twenty years on the Burlington Development Review Board, including many years as Chair.

Business transactions
Real estate is often part of a larger business transaction, such as the purchase or sale of a business or a loan. I help identify the real estate-related issues in the context of the larger transaction, including due diligence investigations, and work to make sure that they do not derail getting to closing.

Experience

• Served as Vermont counsel for national ski company in acquisition of major Vermont ski area.
• Represented Vermont college in development of new student housing by third-party developer.
• Represented schools, colleges, and hospitals in financings involving both public and private funding.
• Represented developer in acquisition, permitting, construction, and sale/leasing of commercial office and residential projects.
• Represented developers, owner associations, and buyers in formation, review, and management of mixed use and residential common interest communities.

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association: Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, Environment, Energy, and Resources Law Section
• Vermont and Chittenden County Bar Associations
• Burlington Development Review Board, Chairman (1992-present)
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Fellow