BRENDA MCDONALD
PRACTICE AREAS
- Municipal Law
- Ordinance Drafting
- Contract Negotiation and Drafting
- Open Meetings and Public Information
- Conflicts of Interest
- Code Enforcement
- City Charter Amendments
- Easement and Right-of-Way Acquisition
- Purchasing and Bidding
- Economic Development
- Economic Development Corporations
- Municipal Management Districts
- Municipal Development Districts
- Development Agreements
- 380 Incentive Agreements
- Public/Private Partnerships
- Land Use
- Planning & Zoning
- Board of Adjustment
- Creating Unique Development Tools
- Land Use Codes
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION
Brenda is a Texas attorney practicing in the areas of land use, development, commercial real estate, municipal law and public private partnerships. She currently serves as the City Attorney for the Town of Addison and the City of Fate. She has served in the public sector for the cities of El Paso, Carrollton, Irving, and for smaller cities in North Texas including Murphy, Heath, Lavon and Fate. As the Deputy City Attorney and the Real Estate & Development Director for the City of Irving, Brenda oversaw the formation, structure, implementation and administration of public/private real estate development agreements to foster high-density development projects along Irving’s transit corridors. She has extensive experience negotiating and drafting development agreements and economic development incentive agreements for both public and private clients. She advises development clients in corporate and financial matters including tax credit financing, EB-5 financing, and construction and permanent loan closings.
As the Chief Operating Officer General Counsel for Five Star Development, Co., Brenda negotiated flexible zoning entitlements and a public/private partnership with the City of Frisco that provided the framework for development of Frisco Square, a 147 acre new urbanism, mixed-use development with 4.4 million square feet of office, retail, multi-family and municipal facilities.
She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture and a Master of Urban Planning degree, both from Texas A&M University. Brenda received her law degree from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law, where she was articles editor for The Urban Lawyer.
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Recipient of the Galen Sparks Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Assistant City Attorney, 2008
- Co-Author, Texas Municipal Zoning Law 3rd ed. published by Lexis Publishing Company, 1999
- Recipient of Excellence in Service Award – City of Carrollton, 1990
- Articles Editor, The Urban Lawyer, The National Quarterly on State and Local Government of the American Bar Association, 1985
- Texas A&M University - Award recipient in Pi Sigma Alpha undergraduate term paper competition. Received Merit Award for distinguished service to the University, 1976-1983
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
- Messer Fort & McDonald - City Attorney for numerous cities.Emphasis areas include public/private partnerships, economic development incentive agreements, public finance, land use matters, complex development agreements, ordinance drafting, annexation, charter review, elections and general governance issues and day to day staff support.
SPEAKING AND WRITING
- The Role of EB-5 Financing in Development - UTCLE Land Use Conference - 2016
- Introduction to Subdivision Regulation -Texas Chapter, APA Annual Conference – 2014
- Development Agreements – UTCLE Land Use Conference – 2008
- Multi-Family Code Enforcement Issues for City Attorneys - Texas City Attorney’s Association - 2008