Dallas Cothrum

Cothrum made a name in real estate by diving head first into red tape.

His sweet spot is at the crossroads of municipal policy, public engagement and private development, making him an influential player in Dallas-Fort Worth, but he’s shown ambition beyond that in recent years.

Cothrum is president and CEO of the company his father founded in 1981, and he’s spent over two decades navigating community meetings, public hearings, zoning nitty-gritty and a plethora of minutes at the podium on behalf of his clients’ projects.

Masterplan has guided cases from Uptown’s Rosewood Court to educational campus expansions and large-scale mixed-use projects. 

The firm merged with New York-based Milrose Consultants in 2022, a high-visibility move that broadened Masterplan’s technical capacity and geographic reach while preserving its Texas roots. More recently, Cothrum spun off the firm’s core zoning and entitlement practice to independent operation under the Masterplan name.

Masterplan took a turn as developer in 2025, partnering with Newport Beach, California-based Brandon Architects on plans for a luxury condo tower in Dallas’ exclusive Turtle Creek neighborhood.