Solid past, strong future. (Profile of the Week).

After more than 20 years in the business, Suzanne Sunshine is still excelling at new areas of the real estate business. Only eight months after accepting a position selling and leasing commercial real estate at Manhattan's Time Equities, Inc., she has negotiated 12 transactions. All of the deals fit within her niche of serving small and medium-sized businesses and non-profit organizations, including one for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's lobbying and fundraising efforts. Sunshine has been mentored by David Lebenstein, SIOR, Time Equities' highly regarded director of sales & leasing

In one of her first leases at Time Equities, Sunshine represented HLLLPAC and Friends of Hillary, Clinton's political-action committee and fundraising group. HILLPAC signed a three-year lease at 15 East 26th St at $27.50 per SF

Further downtown Sunshine teamed up with other senior members of New York's political elite in two separate transactions. She negotiated on behalf of Martin Begun, former associate dean of New York University Medical Center, and Fran Reiter, former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration. Reiter Begun Consulting leased 1,500 SF on the eighth floor of the Woolworth Building for less than $30 per SF.

In the second transaction, Sunshine represented lobbyist Tonio Burgos, who served as chief of staff for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, in the sublease of 3,233 SF of furnished office space on the 15th floor of 115 Broadway. Burgos, currently a member of the Transportation and Commuters Advisory Council of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, has a view of Ground Zero from his office.

On behalf of The Reading Team, Inc., Sunshine closed a deal in Harlem for a learning center offering reading programs to area schoolchildren at The Theresa Hotel office building, at 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. As the sole broker for the tenant and the building, Sunshine negotiated a three-year lease for 3,000 SF of office space at $27 per SF. The Theresa Hotel is owned by the Sol Goldman estate.

Sunshine was literally raised in the real estate industry. She began learning the business as an 11 year-old. Her mother Louise Sunshine, founder of residential real estate marketing company The Sunshine Group, Ltd., was at the time working with Donald Trump on his reputation-making projects of the Trump Tower and the Grand Hyatt

Also from a young age, Sunshine has been driven by a passion for art and public service. She received a BA. in international relations from Brown University, and had her research published for a critically acclaimed exhibition about the origins of Abstract Expressionist Art during World War II.

After graduation, Sunshine accepted a position as an assistant art curator at Equitable Real Estate. There she assisted in developing the art collection and managing the collaboration between artists, architects, and interior and graphic designers in the development of Equitable Center at 787 Seventh Ave. Sunshine helped make a success out of Equitable's pioneering effort to create a true collaboration among artists, architects and developers in the development of a new landmark, top-echelon building on Seventh Avenue.

Sunshine then returned to school, earning an M.B.A. in real estate at Columbia University. Her research on the economics of retail in inner city neighborhoods was published in a leading academic real estate journal, and led to her employment at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The not-for-profit social investment bank helps resident-led, community-based development organizations transform distressed communities into healthy ones--good places to live, do business, work and raise families.

At LISC, Sunshine played a leading role in fanning and raising $24 million in equity capital for The Retail Initiative (TRI). Investments by TRI have resulted in the development of nine retail centers in inner cities throughout the country, including the new Pathmark supermarket on East 125th Street.

Subsequently, Sunshine became vice president of publications and media at The Dana Foundation, one of the nation's largest foundations. She developed and managed a comprehensive program to provide authoritative information about advances in brain science through The Dana Press, the Dana website, and The Dana Press Office.

Most recently, Sunshine served as executive vice president of new business development at The Sunshine Group. She assisted in developing and managing new business, including the marketing of a new condominium tower on the Alexander's site, the workout and leasing of a major portfolio of residential rental buildings in Manhattan, and the repositioning of a senior assisted living facility in Princeton, NJ.

Sunshine's brief return to residential real estate helped her to recognize that alter 18 years of experience in real estate-related fields, strategic planning, management and marketing she was most attracted to commercial real estate.

Sunshine is married with two children, and is the member of the Columbia-Presbyterian Health Science Advisor Council as well as the Participating Parents Board of the Lucy Moses Music School.

The Sunshine family has also been a significant contributor to several New York City institutions. Sunshine's father is a retired physician, former professor of internal medicine at New York University Medical School and the first physician to serve as Chairman of the Board at New York University Medical School. Her great-grandfather was Barney Pressman, a Russian immigrant who founded Barney's New York, one of the city's largest and most elegant stores.