PERSONAL PROFILE H. C. CARTER

H. C. Carter began his career in Austin real estate after studying architecture at the University of Texas. In the forty plus years since first founding his own real estate company, he has stood out as a notable figure in first shaping the Austin real estate business, skyline and community and is now lending that expertise to the community of Dripping Springs, Texas. He is the quintessential entrepreneur, a self-made businessman whose political savvy, intelligence, and marketing expertise have allowed him to experience a career of great significance.

H. C.'s first venture on his own was Carter Homes, Inc. formed in 1961 to construct both single family and multi-family properties. Mr. Carter oversaw all aspects of the development and construction process, including land acquisitions, financing, pricing, design, construction supervision and sales and marketing. Acquiring his Texas Real Estate License in 1962 Mr. Carter soon diversified into real estate brokerage opening Carter Real Estate Company, Inc. in 1964, which lead into the commercial real estate development. Mr. Carter built the landmark 26 Doors Shopping Center, a significant Austin project noted for it Southwest Adobe-style architecture.

Mr. Carter was one of the largest single owner/managers of multi-family housing in Austin. This made Mr. Carter one of the local experts in multi-family units in Austin. His company prepared a semi-annual market study of all apartments in Austin, and he taught apartment management courses and lectured at The University of Texas on the subject.

In the early seventies Mr. Carter with two partners formed Paragon Properties Brokerage, a management company. This enterprise added land brokerage and income properties to the residential specialty, which had been so successful. The company acted in a brokerage role for some of the acquisitions, which helped make Austin, recognized as the "New Silicon Valley", including sites for Texas Instruments, Motorola, Westinghouse and Data General.

Mr. Carter assumed full control of Paragon Properties in 1981 and renamed the management company Carter Management Company that eventually, with the rest of Carter's interest, managed the syndication, planning, development and construction of nearly $100 Million in new real estate projects in the Austin/Travis County area. Carter's companies developed multi-use projects, office buildings, retail centers and more multi-family projects. Negotiating successful leases with major national and regional firms including Wal-mart, H.E.B. supermarkets, Tom-thumb/Page, and local banks and savings and loans.

Along with everyone else in the real estate professions in the late 80's Mr. Carter faced business contraction in Austin. Mr. Carter reorganized and re-focused his attention. Seeking a growth avenue for the future, Mr. Carter restructured his businesses to fit the times and eventually settled on the area west of Austin as his new business focal point. With his business savvy he was able to acquire a number of distressed properties. Beginning in the early to mid 1990's he moved his residence and then his business to the Dripping Springs area.

Currently Mr. Carter is developing a subdivision that will offer convenient location to the mass commuter population seeking good schools, city amenities and convenience to Austin but the pleasures of country living. Never a person to sit still for very long he continues to manage multi-family units in the area that he developed and built and investigate new residential and commercial opportunities.

Other than his business, Mr. Carter's past activities and interests have included serving on the boards and committees of builders and apartment associations at the local, state and national levels. He was a member of the board of Austin's Brackenridge Hospital, served on the Austin Airport Advisory Committee, was a founding member of Austin's Metropolitan Club, and was a Governor's appointee to the Texas Sesquicentennial Museum Board. For twenty-two years, he has been (and continues to be) very instrumental in the preservation and breeding of the once endangered Texas Longhorn herd. He has served as a director and committee member of the Texas Longhorn Breeder's Association of America, and was a founder and first president of the South Texas Longhorn Association. His personal Longhorns, as well as his home ranch in Dripping Springs, have been used in television commercials and films.

H. C. Carter continues to pursue business interests such as real estate development, the management of real estate projects, and cattle and Boer goat breeding. He remains active in many civic, non-profit and community activities such as the Paramount Theater, the Austin Symphony, the University of Texas School of Architecture Advisory Council, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Austin Commercial Real Estate Society, and the Greater Dripping Springs Community Planning Partnership.