DC: Power Women!

This week, we published our DC Power Women list, which features some of the most impressive leaders in commercial real estate, including CBRE local property management chief Kathy Allgier. The military kid came to DC after graduating with a human development degree from Cornell. She found a job at Shannon & Luchs and was totally engaged by the pace, variety, and people. At Spaulding & Slye, she was made partner in 2000, then managed its transition in to JLL in '06, she says. She came to CBRE in 2011 and helps oversee the investor portion of a whopping 45M SF local management portfolio. Relationships have been a big part of Kathy's success, and she encourages young women (and men!) to get involved with groups like CREW (she was president of the DC chapter in 2007). And while she says hard work pays off, “you have to find ways to recharge and rejuvenate yourself, too.”

CoR Advisors CEO Darlene Pope has managed two large office buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue and overseen major tenant retrofits. But she says her focus the last two decades has been making office buildings more tech savvy. Working for a startup telecom company in the '90s, she was a force in installing high-speed Internet for thousands of commercial properties nationwide. She also launched a consulting firm focused on tech applications for office buildings, intelligent buildings, and energy management. CoR Advisors is taking existing buildings—some 100 years old—and upgrading all the systems and controls to an integrated web-based platform. The entire building could be operated using an iPad. Her best career lesson: Trust your instincts. Read about more inspiring women: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.