Everything in the garden is rosy as Sunshine exits Corcoran.

Real estate marketing powerhouse, Louise Sunshine, this week confirmed that she has left the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, but she denied there was any big fallout that prompted her exit.

On the contrary, Sunshine, 65, said it was all a matter of timing. "The time was right for all concerned. The company is in good and capable hands and, for a variety of reasons, I feel that I am ready to embark on my next career." Sunshine groomed several proteges to carry her company to the next level, most notably Kelly Kennedy Mack, the recently appointed president of the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, as well as James Lansill, her senior managing director.

"I am very proud of the people that I have been able to mentor along the way, especially Kelly. I have a great deal of respect for her talent and abilities and I am sure she will lead the company well.

"James excels in marketing pre-development planning and sales. He personifies everything great about the Sunshine brand in real time. He has successfully brought to market and sold out 165 Charles Street, 40 Mercer and 50 Gramercy Park."

As for her own future, while she has yet to announce formal plans for exactly what path her newest career will take, Sunshine confirmed she was in the throes of setting up a new website that will focus on luxury lifestyles. She told Real Estate Weekly, "I will be able to chat with people, talk about homes and gardens and about my Lowchens [dogs]."

She is also eager to develop the lifestyle think tank she has been busy promoting for the last year. It would comprise of some of the real estate world's most accomplished development and marketing executives and have some type of affiliation with a major educational body. "I am definitely going in the direction of lifestyles, both with the website and with the think tank. Hopefully, it will synergize fashion, art, design and architecture," she said.

Speculation has surrounded Sunshine's future at Corcoran Sunshine Marketing virtually since the day she sold her firm, in 2002, to the conglomerate that owns them both.

She and Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman have constantly shot down reports of ongoing acrimony between the two and both women have refused to be drawn into what some insiders have claimed to be a media campaign to paint them as bitter rivals.

Reports from both camps in the wake of this week's announcement have been adamant that Sunshine and Liebman have and will continue to have a good relationship.

"It makes for good headlines to say two successful women are involved in a cat fight," said one source close to both women.

"They are both successful women who have built very successful business and who always have the best interest of their clients at heart.

"They have been friends for a number of years and have always had a pleasant working relationship."

Liebman was also upbeat about the shake-up, telling REW, "Louise and I have enjoyed a terrific working relationship in the past and while we will no longer have a formal business relationship, I wish her all the very best.

"We're very well positioned with Kelly Mack in place and running the show. Kelly was handpicked by Louise initially, and I couldn't be more proud of everything Kelly has already achieved for our company. I'm confident that it's just the beginning."

Despite reports that Sunshine will continue to work with some of her development clients, she is under contractural obligations that will likely prohibit her from doing so.

She will also be unable to use the Sunshine name in connection with a business for the next two years, although with a name synonymous with luxury living, that is unlikely to have any detrimental effect on her personal plans to continue to operate in the field.

In an interview with REW on June 7, Sunshine indicated that, although her contract with NRT was due to expire June 26, she planned to see all of the $5 billion worth of development projects on her books at that time--including Ed Minskoff's 101 Warren, 170 East End Avenue and 75 Wall Street--through to completion, anticipating another five years at least at the company.

Some say her change of heart may have been a result of the sudden death June 11 of her long-time friend and colleague, Judith Banham, at the age of just 49.

Sunshine admitted this week that Banham's death had taken its toll and indicated that the next chapter in her own life will be as much about personal fulfillment as professional accomplishment.

She said, "Judy's death really gave me some cause for reflection and inspired me to think about my third career. I don't want anyone to think I'm retiring, far from it; my creative juices are flowing again.

"But [developer] George Klein used to always send me a rose and tell me I should take time to stop and smell the roses. I have always been too busy to do that. Now I hope to heed his advice while honoring Judy's memory by continuing to use my influence and my knowledge to impact people in the most profound way; the way they live."