Location: So, Sunshine—is that your real name?

Ms. Sunshine: It is.

That’s a very loaded term in marketing, isn’t it?

It’s a very difficult name to live up to. It’s always a challenge to be very sunny in personality.

Hence, the necklace.

I always wear something sunshiny. That’s because in case I don’t smile, somebody can ask me about my necklace, or my earrings, or my pin.

Well, I fell right into that trap. Now, you’re considered a pioneer in luxury condo marketing. Do you consider yourself the intellectual godmother of Michael Shvo?

No, I don’t consider myself the intellectual godmother to Michael Shvo. But if he considers me his intellectual godmother, well, then, I’m flattered.

What do you make of how luxury properties are marketed these days? I was at a Shvo event a few months ago; a really flashy party, with famously hip D.J.’s, burlesque dancers and port-o-potties labeled “Celebrity.” Some attendees weren’t sure what the party was for. Does this sort of thing even work?

I usually don’t comment on things that I don’t have firsthand knowledge of.

Never been to a Shvo party?

No, I’ve never been to one.

Get ready to live.

I’m living a different life. I really don’t have the time at the moment to go to many parties. But if Michael Shvo invited me to a party, I’d be pleased to attend.

You were really big in the 80’s, coming from the Trump Organization and launching your own company, The Sunshine Group, in 1986.…

My business as a woman developer took off in the 70’s when I had the privilege of working side by side with Donald Trump, and that’s where I really learned so very much in just a few years, so very much more than most people have learned in a lifetime.

Tell me one thing that stands out that you learned from Donald Trump.

The one thing that stands out that I learned from Donald Trump is how to create value.

How do you create value?

If I told you how to create value in depth, I’d be giving you the secret to everything I know.

So, is this a comeback for you, these new ventures?

No, let’s call it a reinvention. In my former career as president of The Sunshine Group, we were focused regionally on New York, on the East Coast, and nationally, with quite a few developments on the West Coast, in Texas, Chicago.

My focus is now global. Our new online venture, called Dominium, will become the global directory of all new residential development worldwide. And as development director at the Alexico Group, I am now bringing to market the Mark Hotel, where the penthouse will probably be the hottest property on the globe. It’s expected to fetch at least $6,000 a square foot.

Is it going to be bigger than the penthouse at the Pierre Hotel?

No, as a matter of fact, it’s going to be smaller. It’s 9,000 square feet. But the Mark is highly anticipated. When people speak of luxury, this is so far beyond luxury.

I’m taking great pride as a developer; being able to deliver to our purchasers all the things that marketing companies espouse to do, I’m proud to say that Alexico does to. We don’t try to cheat or chisel or skimp. People get what they pay for—we pick out the very best doorknobs, for instance. They don’t overpay and get …

Shlock?

Right, you said it; I didn’t.

The Sunshine Group is now part of the Corcoran Group.

Yes, and I’m proud to say that somebody I mentored, Kelly Mack, is president of it, and she’s doing a sensational job. And I’m also proud to say that, at Alexico, we have retained Corcoran Sunshine to be our selling agent for these three incredible properties—the Mark [at 25 East 77th Street], The Laurel [at 400 East 67th Street], and 56 Leonard Street, which represent approximately $1.8 billion worth of development that’s coming onto the market in Manhattan, starting now.

Some people might be surprised to hear that. There was speculation that you had been forced out of Corcoran Sunshine after the merger. What really happened?

It never bothers me what other people think. I sold my company. And I stayed on at my company for three years after the sale and continued to grow the company in a very accelerated, responsible manner, and I mentored Kelly Mack to be the next president.

When I’m in meetings with Kelly, I have visions of myself. She’s much more polite. She’s much softer. She’s much more politic. She has many more wonderful qualities than I have. But she’s extremely talented, extremely creative, and I think they’re doing a wonderful job.

Is it weird now not being part of the company that bears your name?

It’s not weird at all. I’m very proud of the fact that I founded The Sunshine Group and that I was able to bring all kinds of unique and innovative marketing techniques to the world of real estate. Now, I’m planning to unveil many new innovations and new opportunities that people will say, ‘Why haven’t I thought of that?’ And they’ll be scurrying around trying to copy it. And that’s really the greatest form of flattery. When there’s a whole group of people who have learned from me, that’s very fulfilling.

Otherwise, I would have just been a blob of protoplasm on this earth.