Features

Diane Hornquist – Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.

A GC turns dirt into golden real estate

The age-old adage advises us—businesses or individuals—to consider three important aspects of real estate before investing: location, location and location.

However, as Diane Hornquist can attest, location is one piece of the complex real estate investment puzzle. Aspects such as cost and contracts, as well as wildcards—like, say, a global pandemic—all need to be considered.

And no one wants to make investments without discovering as many potential risks as possible. That’s precisely why Hornquist, who’s been with Hunt Realty for over two decades, says she scrutinizes every deal. This allows her to offer clients detailed legal, risk management and other practical advice, such as evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of service providers.

In fact, in April of 2021, Hornquist received a promotion to the combined roles of senior vice president and general counsel. “Slow and steady wins the race,” she says, recalling her career start as an assistant general counsel in 1999.

Diane Hornquist | Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.

Diane Hornquist | Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.

Today, she guides Hunt Realty as it focuses primarily on projects in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, including prominent downtown structures like Hyatt Regency Dallas, Reunion Tower, the North End apartments, and the Hunt corporate campuses. She also collaborates with Hunt colleagues and outside investors to plan the future for real estate holdings in Terrell and Frisco, Texas.

“From a legal perspective, I am often directing the traffic flow of information and keeping lines of communications open—between everyone from executives, partners and owners to contractors and service professionals,” Hornquist says.

Lay of land and labs  

Hornquist’s daily tasks are exactly what you might expect: reading and drafting legal documents and working with her team to evaluate opportunities for existing assets, as well as new deals. During her time at Hunt Realty, she has helped structure and negotiate over $500 million in corporate and real estate debt facilities. These facilities, along with millions in investment equity, financed those negotiations and deals.

What Hornquist loves about her job, though, is the unexpected twists. For instance, she worked with sister company Hunt Energy Enterprises a couple of years ago when they needed more than just office space. The addition of a research lab added complexity to the planning and buildout of space, though. Things like building ventilation and specialty permitting and contractors had to be evaluated in addition to the typical leasing considerations.

Alongside her colleagues at HEE, Hornquist helped ensure the company had the required permits to build out, equip and operate from its building suite. This included everything from understanding the business purpose and the technology to the potential impact on building systems and equipment.

“We had to look at it from at least four perspectives: real estate, business, legal and science,” Hornquist says.

Down to earth and pipes

Hornquist had to use three of those four perspectives in 2018, when Hunt Realty led the purchase of over 2,500 acres then known as the Bert Fields Headquarters Ranch. The plan was—and still is—to create a mixed-use community on the largest remaining contiguous land assemblage in Frisco, Texas, Hornquist says.

Diane Hornquist | Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.

Hunt 2019 annual meeting

Working together with colleagues, partners, city officials, consultants and local attorneys, Hornquist is still pushing to ensure the development and creation of community moves smoothly forward. The rebranded ranch—Fields—will consist of residential, educational, commercial, and recreational areas.

Hornquist says her colleagues at Hunt Utility Services, a company under the Hunt umbrella, provided insights into electric utility regulation and operation, as well as the customs and practices in the field, like how charges are determined for consumers, transmission and distribution.

They also advised Hornquist and her team on what was negotiable based on user type and consumption. For questions they couldn’t answer, they recommended a specialty outside counsel—which Hunt Realty hired.

“Their early guidance was worth its weight in gold, as it sped up our learning curve and helped us hammer out beneficial agreements for Fields much faster,” Hornquist says.

Blue skies and referrals  

Hornquist began her career in the real estate practice of Jackson Walker in Dallas. In 1999, she turned the page in “Texas Lawyer Magazine” and saw a blind posting seeking a junior real estate attorney for a corporate position. When she crafted and sent in her resume, she didn’t know which company in which industry had published the ad. All she had was a job description.

At that point, she was reaching five years at her law firm and beginning to consider making partner. She thought that an in-house position might be better suited for her skill set and desires. When Hunt Realty offered her a position on its legal team, her intuition was confirmed.

“I was young and willing to learn,” Hornquist recalls. “I was terribly excited—and nervous—when I received the call and eventually interviewed directly with company leader, Ray Hunt.”

Diane Hornquist | Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Hunt Realty Investments, Inc.

Family photo 2019

When not at work, and before COVID-19 had businesses reluctantly closing their doors, Hornquist volunteered as part of a free legal clinic offered through her church. Hornquist and other volunteer attorneys interview those who walk in with legal needs—solving their basic legal problems or referring them to qualified resources if they had more complex issues. She’s excited about returning to service as the pandemic loosens its grip on the world.

She’s also a Facebook administrator for a large online Christian singles ministry. As part of the leadership team, she promotes fellowship among Dallas Fort Worth Christian singles while working with other moderators to monitor posts, interact with group members and create in-person and online fellowship guidance.

In fact, Hornquist has always maintained a close connection with her faith and desire to give back. After graduating from Texas Christian University with her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in finance, she graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University with her juris doctor degree. She earned a SMU/CREW Dallas Leadership Certificate in 2013 through a program offered jointly by SMU and the Dallas branch of Commercial Real Estate Women.

“My favorite person to partner with, though, is my daughter,” Hornquist says, recalling memorable recent mother-daughter trips to Paris, France and Vail, Colorado.

View this feature in the Vanguard Fall II 2021 Edition here.

Published on: September 21, 2021

regions:

categories: ,

Showcase your feature on your website with a custom “As Featured in Vanguard” badge that links directly to your article!

Copy and paste this script into your page coding (ideally right before the closing tag) where you want to display our review banner.

Testimonials

As promised in advance, my feature in Vanguard has increased my visibility within the profession and prompted more than a few people I have not communicated with recently to reconnect. One of the Italian law firms I have used in the past is now in the process of interviewing me for an article on their website and tweeting out the feature story. Activity and the number of people connecting with me on LinkedIn has soared, which is great. The Vanguard writers and editorial staff were great to work with—highly professional and made the effort to make the experience both fun and rewarding (they were also respectful of the time pressures and demands all lawyers face). I was very pleased with the experience and the final outcome. Needless to say, I have been very pleased. All in all working with Vanguard has been a very positive experience which generated good publicity for both Shawcor and myself. My sincere thanks.
– Tim Hutzul, General Counsel, ShawCor Ltd.
I was honored to be the subject of an article. I enjoy reading Vanguard articles and seeing how other attorneys got to their positions and see their jobs. It's also interesting to see how different law firms partner with the subjects of the articles.
– Henry Marquard, in-house counsel, Stanley Consultants Inc.
The piece highlighting my company, Bob Baker Enterprises, Inc., came out fabulous. Our company is in the new and used car sales and service industry. Everyone was great to work with and extremely professional. They produced a high-quality product and have provided expert assistance and guidance post-production of the article.
– Wade Poulson, General Counsel, Bob Baker Enterprises Inc.
It was a great honor to be featured in Vanguard Law. Working with every member of the team, from the initial interview with Erin Clark, through production with Victor Martins, writing the article with Taryn Plumb and creating the final content with Dave Gushee, was a true pleasure. Everyone was very professional, enthusiastic and supportive, and their creative approach and positive attitude clearly came through in the final product.
– Kevin C. Rakowski, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Compliance with Radian Group Inc.

LATEST EDITION

Fall II 2023

READ NOW

GET VANGUARD IN YOUR INBOX.

  • * We’ll never share your email or info with anyone.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.