Editors’ Note

Kelly Kennedy Mack is President of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, the new development arm of The Corcoran Group. Mack has worked with some of the most distinguished leaders in luxury real estate, including renowned developers, architects, and designers. As President, Mack has preserved Corcoran Sunshine’s legacy of innovation while significantly building its industry presence, and today Corcoran Sunshine is New York’s market share leader. Mack joined Corcoran Sunshine as Vice President of Business Development in 2002, was named Executive Vice President in 2004, and became President of Corcoran Sunshine in 2006. She serves on the NYU Board of Trustees, and in her free time supports the Hassenfeld Children’s Center, an outpatient treatment center for pediatric oncology and blood disorders. In October 2009, Mack was named NYU’s first-ever Distinguished Young Alumna. Mack graduated from Georgetown University in 1996 and holds an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Company Brief

With more than 30 years of experience in marketing and collective sales of $60 billion, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group (corcoransunshine.com) is the country’s premier organization for the planning, design, marketing, and sale of luxury residential development. Corcoran Sunshine has marketed the decade’s biggest condominium housing projects including Hudson Yards, 30 Park Place, 220 Central Park South and 56 Leonard. The Real Deal magazine has named the company New York’s #1 new development marketer every year since it began conducting rankings in 2009.

How do you describe Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group’s culture and values?

I would say that Corcoran Sunshine’s culture and values are based on excellence, innovation, integrity, and mentorship. The pursuit of excellence guides everything we do, and our ability to achieve it consistently is a testament to our people. Our team has unparalleled experience and has set standards in this industry for over two decades, while launching and selling out dozens of record-breaking developments in New York City and beyond – and doing so in some of the most complicated moments in the market’s history. We maintain longstanding relationships with many of the world’s most established developers, architects, and designers, all of which gives us a powerful platform from which to provide the guidance that moves our clients toward their goals. Another major component of that expertise is our Market Research team, which includes many of the industry’s foremost experts on real estate in New York City and South Florida. They are constantly analyzing an unbelievable amount of information on inventory, transactions, and pricing, which allows us to advise our clients in real time based on current market conditions.

From an innovation standpoint, we are always looking forward and exploring the intersection of real estate and luxury brands while working to introduce exclusive experiences into our portfolio for both our buyers and the brokerage community. We have recently partnered with brands like Fendi and Loro Piana and institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, all in the service of keeping the attention on our developments from the audiences that matter most.

Finally, we take tremendous pride in doing the right thing and in making decisions and recommendations that prioritize the health and integrity of our clients, their developments, and our industry at large. It’s a position we take very seriously, and one we extend within our organization as well. We empower our employees to play to their strengths and interests, to evolve their careers as they see fit, and to be the best and most productive versions of themselves for the benefit of both the company and our clients – and to have fun while doing it. We grow together and celebrate each other’s strengths, and as a result, people stay here for a very long time – sometimes for an entire career – and our culture lives, breathes, and evolves on an ongoing basis.

Will you provide an overview of Corcoran Sunshine’s services and capabilities?

Corcoran Sunshine’s hundred-plus employees are distributed across four departments: Market Research, Planning & Design, Marketing, and Sales. These four departments collaborate in pursuit of one common goal: creating value for our clients. In the ideal scenario, we partner with our developer clients from day one – when they are first conceiving of a project or acquiring a development site, for instance – and work together to develop a conception of what the project should be. Each of our departments participates in this process and offers guidance on every aspect of the development life cycle. That may mean our Market Research team advising on unit mix and finely tuning pricing for velocity that meets a developer’s goals, or our Planning & Design team recommending an architect or designer that is aligned with the aesthetics of a given neighborhood or buyer profile – and then scrutinizing every layout to ensure they will resonate with buyers. It might mean our Marketing team overseeing the brand development process and deciding on a property’s name, and it certainly means staffing sales offices with the industry’s most reliable, professional, and successful salespeople. And it works: Corcoran Sunshine has been #1 in new development sales for the past 20 years running, with cumulative sales volume exceeding $60 billion. Our portfolio includes some of the highest-profile and most significant residential properties in the city – 220 Central Park South, Hudson Yards, Waterline Square, and One High Line, among dozens of others – and properties in our portfolio routinely achieve a 15 percent premium above competing developments.

What have been the keys to Corcoran Sunshine’s industry leadership?

It’s all about taking the excellence and innovation that are such an essential part of the way we work and making recommendations we believe in – and doing so with conviction. Whether our team is advising on pricing or conducting showings, we consistently hear from developers and brokers across the industry that doing business with Corcoran Sunshine is simply different than working with any other sales and marketing agency. People who know our team understand that we are the industry leaders for a reason, and they work with us because they know they are in good hands when they do.

Will you highlight one or two of Corcoran Sunshine’s current developments?

We’ve been making a big push into the South Florida market lately, and one development that we’re most excited about is South Flager House. This is a trophy property in West Palm Beach that is developed by Related Ross with an overabundance of features that resonate specifically with the most elite buyers in that market: a classic design by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, gracious layouts that suit every lifestyle, views over Palm Beach and Lake Worth, and an amenity collection that is among the most comprehensive we’ve ever seen. This property has achieved unprecedented success at every price point and with every type of inventory and has single-handedly cemented West Palm Beach as one of the most desirable new residential destinations in the world.

One of our biggest recent successes in New York City is 520 Fifth Avenue, which launched sales this spring and sold over half of its inventory in just a few months. It’s a great case study for what happens when a developer – in this case, Rabina – simply does everything right. Buyers have responded positively to every aspect of this property: a graceful KPF design that complements its landmark surroundings, views that encapsulate just about every notable tower in the city, thoughtful layouts that make sense for contemporary living, finishes that feel considered and warm, and pricing that is aligned with the reality of today’s market. This is a special development and it’s been gratifying to see the market’s positive response to it.

How critical is it for Corcoran Sunshine to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

As a company, we understand that maintaining an inclusive team is the best way of ensuring that the next generation of leaders reflects the diversity of our city and our country. And while it’s unquestionably the right thing to do, we go beyond just incorporating diversity and truly celebrate it. We are simply at our best when we consider a wide range of experiences and perspectives from a team that comes from a variety of backgrounds.

You have spent most of your career at Corcoran Sunshine. What has made the experience so special for you?

When you’re involved with something for such a long time and from such a young age, it truly becomes part of you. This company and my incredible team are woven into the fabric of my life in a way that’s hard to separate out, and I can look back at my life and, at just about any moment, connect it to people and the work Corcoran Sunshine was doing at that time. It’s that connectedness and those relationships that make it feel rare and special.

As Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, are you able to reflect on the impact that Corcoran Sunshine has made and celebrate the past two decades?

It is definitely a cause for celebration, and we’re developing some programming around the anniversary that we aren’t prepared to discuss quite yet. But we’re grateful for the incredible ride we’ve had and understand that it is both a cause to come together and celebrate, and an opportunity to plant seeds for an ongoing evolution that will ensure we continue to lead the industry for another 20 years.

What advice do you offer to young people interested in building a career in the real estate industry?

My advice to young people is to recognize that every moment on the job, no matter how small or menial it may seem, is an opportunity to gain experience, to grow, and to perfect the way you work. You can learn important lessons by listening carefully in a meeting, by taking a few minutes to research something you have questions about, or simply by paying attention to what buyers are saying when they walk out of an appointment. It’s a fast-paced and competitive industry, and the people who succeed are the ones who are constantly looking to learn.