About Cross Timbers Development
An advocate who answers only to you.
Cross Timbers Development was founded on a simple conviction: the homeowner — the person taking on the greatest risk and writing the checks — deserves an experienced expert whose only allegiance is to them.
Our purpose
We Exist to Serve People Through Places
For Cross Timbers Development, the people are homeowners — and the place is the home they're building, one of the most personal and consequential projects of their lives. Everything we do exists to protect the people behind the project.
The why
From the country's largest construction programs to your front door.
Founder Richard Batson has spent nearly a decade delivering some of the most demanding projects in the industry — hyperscale data centers and complex commercial facilities across seven states, with a combined value exceeding $20 billion. It's work where a missed detail or a slipped schedule carries consequences measured in millions, demanding relentless budgeting, scheduling, contractor coordination, quality control, commissioning, and risk management.
He built that expertise on both sides of the table: first as a project engineer and project manager for top national ENR general contractors — Austin Commercial, JE Dunn, Mortenson, Ryan Companies, and Adolfson & Peterson — and today as a Senior Project Manager and Owner's Representative for hyperscale developer Crusoe, providing programmatic oversight on the Stargate Abilene campus, one of the largest AI data center programs in the country. His project record spans clients including Meta, AWS, QTS, and Crusoe.
Along the way, a pattern became impossible to ignore: families building custom homes face the very same risks — budget overruns, delays, miscommunication, uneven quality — but almost never have the expert representation that billion-dollar organizations take for granted. They're handed contracts they can't fully evaluate, asked to approve decisions they were never trained to judge, and expected to manage it all on top of careers and family life. Cross Timbers Development exists to close that gap — bringing that same enterprise-grade, owner-side leadership to homeowners, in plain language, with a single loyalty.
The approach
Discipline borrowed from the highest-stakes projects in construction.
The methods that keep a data center on time and on budget translate directly to your home — they simply need to be made human-scale. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Rigorous cost control
Independent budgets, allowance tracking, and disciplined change-order review keep surprises out of your project — and money in your pocket.
Real schedule management
Schedules built and validated like a professional project controls team — so "on time" means something, and slips are caught early.
Proactive risk management
We identify what could go wrong before it does, and put plans in place — the same forward-looking mindset high-stakes projects depend on.
Quality verification
Milestone inspections and commissioning-style checks confirm the work is right — not just where you can see it, but everywhere.
Clear coordination
One organized point of contact keeping architect, builder, and trades aligned, with documentation you can actually follow.
Owner-first communication
Plain-language updates and honest counsel, so you always understand your options and the trade-offs behind every decision.
What it means to answer only to you
Independence isn't a tagline. It's the entire point.
A builder profits from the build. An architect protects the design. Both are valuable — but neither is structured to be your watchdog. As an independent owner's representative, Cross Timbers Development holds no competing interest. Our success is measured by one thing: your project, done right.
Independence
No builder relationships to protect, no markups to hide. We work for you and only you.
Transparency
Clear reporting on cost, schedule, and quality — so you're never guessing where your project stands.
Stewardship
We treat your budget and your home as if they were our own — with care, diligence, and respect for what's at stake.
At a glance
Credentials that mean something on a job site.
Experience earned on projects where there was no margin for error — now working for you.
- Nearly a decade delivering hyperscale data centers and complex commercial projects
- $20B+ in combined project value and 1.6 GW+ of mission-critical capacity
- Hands-on experience across seven states (TX, OH, MN, IL, UT, KS, WY)
- Delivered for clients including Meta, AWS, QTS, and Crusoe
- Career spanning top ENR national general contractors and owner's-rep leadership
- B.S. in Construction Science & Management — Kansas State University
- MBA in progress — SMU Cox School of Business, Dallas
- Based in Texas; serving DFW, Austin, Houston & College Station
Let's protect what you're building.
Tell us about your project and we'll show you exactly where an owner's representative makes the difference.