Cotter Steps Down From Staubach's Top Slot

Cotter tells GlobeSt.com that a search has been launched for an international executive vice president. The duty involves more plane time and energy than Cotter wants to invest at this stage of her career. "It's not an easy job," she says about the outlined day-to-day duties for the lead slot for the international partnership, DTZ Staubach Tie Leung. "It's a big traveling job and will take a large amount of energy to take Staubach to the next level." She says the expectation is a replacement will be named by year's end.

The veteran Cotter isn't considering another job in the real estate industry, but she's also not abandoning a professional lifestyle. She's on the board of a small company in New York City--and is scouting for similar roles to fill. "I have a lot of skills to offer," she says, citing her ongoing roles and dedication to nonprofit organizations. She recently was named board chairman for the Greater Metropolitan Dallas YWCA. The question at hand, she says, is "where can I take my talent and my time."

Cotter has been instrumental in developing Staubach's international platform, particularly its relationship with global partner, DTZ Holdings Inc. The most significant change in the past three years has been "to bring the importance of international capabilities to the forefront of peoples' minds," she says. "I feel really good about the accomplishments we've made. We're giving our key professionals a knowledge base about the resources they have and how to work in Hong Kong, Singapore, pick a country."

Cotter started out in 1979 as leasing manager for Roger Staubach's only ground-up development: the five-building Hillcrest Oaks at the corner of Interstate 635 and Hillcrest Avenue in North Dallas. In 1987, she was named executive vice president and Southwest regional manager. In 1992 as part of upper management, she began directing strategic projects, including development of a corporate-wide technology platform and assisting in Staubach's expansion inside and outside the US.

"I've been a very blessed person to work with Roger and to know him," Cotter says. "I look at where Staubach is now. It has a great partner in DTZ, which I have been on since the beginning. That's the most difficult thing to let go of."

The award-winning Cotter, who's been married for 37 years and has two children and six grandchildren, has "played a key role in the growth and success of our business," Staubach, chairman and CEO, says in a press release. "Integrity is so important that it's the first of five values in our company constitution and Ka Cotter's known for her integrity globally, throughout our industry."