Rushmore tops Corcoran Sunshine awards


From left: Corcoran Sunshine’s Kelly Kennedy Mack, Lynne Brown, Melissa Ziweslin, Graham Spearman, William Bish, Jim Brawders and the Rushmore

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group today announced the winners of its annual awards, with $1.6 billion in closed residential development sales in 2009.

“In one of the toughest years in real estate history, $1.6 billion is a significant number,” Corcoran Sunshine President Kelly Kennedy Mack told The Real Deal.

The award for sales team of the year was presented to Rushmore sales agents Lynne Brown, Jill Preschel, Graham Spearman, and Melissa Ziweslin, who closed over 100 unit sales at the project in 2009 and signed some $50 million in contracts during the fourth quarter alone.

More inventory was sold and closed at Extell Development’s Rushmore condominium at 80 Riverside Boulevard in 2009 than at any other development in the Corcoran Sunshine portfolio, Mack said, adding that the team demonstrated “a Herculean effort.”

Recent press reports about buyers attempting to get out of their contracts at the project haven’t impeded sales, she said.

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“Quite frankly, we’ve had an unbelievable year there,” she said. “We haven’t seen the kind of reaction from the buyers in contract, as well as new buyers, that many people have been speculating about.”

Other winners include William Bish and Jim Brawders, who won the Deal of the Year for a sale at 15 Madison Square North negotiated in 2009, which closed last month, the company said in a statement.

The Corcoran Sunshine Innovation Award, for “strategic thinking, creativity, and insight” was presented to Nadia Meratla and Will Tims, both directors in the company’s planning and design department. Brandon Watson was named Administrator of the Year for work at 166 Perry Street. The Judy Banham Memorial Award was presented to Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator John Felicetti in recognition of his “leadership, graciousness, and dedication,” the company said.

James Lansill, a senior managing director, was presented with a one-time award for professional strength and leadership at Corcoran Sunshine.

Mack said the award was intended to honor Lansill’s exemplary performance in the face of a difficult economy.

“It was such a challenging year for the industry, particularly for the new development market,” she said. Lansill made “extraordinary” efforts at the  projects he oversees for the group — including Chelsea Enclave, Soho Mews and 166 Perry.

“James Lansill outperformed the market,” she said.