Kelly Kennedy Mack, MBA '02
President, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group
Kelly Kennedy Mack’s immediate goal when she was earning her MBA at Stern was to pass accounting. “I barely made it!” she confessed. That deficit hasn’t held her back.
Named Stern’s first-ever Distinguished Young Alumna, Mack, 38, is president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, a leader in the planning, design, marketing, and sale of luxury residential development. In this role, she drives the company’s expansion and works with some of the most distinguished developers, architects, and designers in luxury real estate. Since Mack became president in 2006, the company has transacted a landmark $12 billion in sales and grown to be New York’s consistent new-development market share leader.
Mack graduated from Stern just as the dot-com bubble burst and torpedoed her goal of working in media and entertainment, but the MBA experience had taught her to have an eye for the main chance. “I left Stern with the ability to recognize business opportunities of all kinds,” she said. Mack met with Louise Sunshine, founder of The Sunshine Group, who hired her as vice president of business development. Mack said: “I told her I would work for free for the first three months if she would let me live and breathe her world. I literally went everywhere she did and sat in on every call. There was a joke that I was the most overqualified intern in company history.”
From her current perch atop Manhattan’s roaring luxury market, Mack observed that “Optimism is an understatement. This is a powerful moment for the market.” The challenges of the past few years when money was tight and development was at a standstill are turning into enormous opportunity. “The market is hungry for new product and almost every developer I know is looking for a place to build, getting a project approved, or securing financing,” she said. “We’re seeing rising confidence validated by price appreciation. Availability is at record lows. Developers are moving forward with projects at a skyline-altering scale we haven’t seen in years.”
Another opportunity beckons from international markets. Mack forged a partnership with Century 21 China, granting it exclusive representation in mainland China for Corcoran Sunshine’s properties. The alliance has already proven effective. “Within the past year, our percentage of Asian buyers has risen about 10 percent,” Mack said.
Named Stern’s first-ever Distinguished Young Alumna, Mack, 38, is president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, a leader in the planning, design, marketing, and sale of luxury residential development. In this role, she drives the company’s expansion and works with some of the most distinguished developers, architects, and designers in luxury real estate. Since Mack became president in 2006, the company has transacted a landmark $12 billion in sales and grown to be New York’s consistent new-development market share leader.
Mack graduated from Stern just as the dot-com bubble burst and torpedoed her goal of working in media and entertainment, but the MBA experience had taught her to have an eye for the main chance. “I left Stern with the ability to recognize business opportunities of all kinds,” she said. Mack met with Louise Sunshine, founder of The Sunshine Group, who hired her as vice president of business development. Mack said: “I told her I would work for free for the first three months if she would let me live and breathe her world. I literally went everywhere she did and sat in on every call. There was a joke that I was the most overqualified intern in company history.”
From her current perch atop Manhattan’s roaring luxury market, Mack observed that “Optimism is an understatement. This is a powerful moment for the market.” The challenges of the past few years when money was tight and development was at a standstill are turning into enormous opportunity. “The market is hungry for new product and almost every developer I know is looking for a place to build, getting a project approved, or securing financing,” she said. “We’re seeing rising confidence validated by price appreciation. Availability is at record lows. Developers are moving forward with projects at a skyline-altering scale we haven’t seen in years.”
Another opportunity beckons from international markets. Mack forged a partnership with Century 21 China, granting it exclusive representation in mainland China for Corcoran Sunshine’s properties. The alliance has already proven effective. “Within the past year, our percentage of Asian buyers has risen about 10 percent,” Mack said.