Kevin Kennelly.
Kevin Kennelly, 28
Real estate broker at JRT Realty
As a kid, Kevin Kennelly sometimes hung out at construction sites in Manhattan, where he witnessed the development lifecycle.
“I’m in a lot that is currently sand or concrete, absolutely nothing there,” Kennelly remembered. “And then, you go back to that same site in two and a half, three years and it’s a full-blown development.”
It wasn’t until he was an adult that he realized that it was a luxury not everyone gets to experience.
Kennelly is a commercial broker at JRT Realty, one of the largest woman-owned commercial brokerages in the country. Kennelly, who specializes in tenant representation, came to JRT from Cresa New York, along with his boss at the time.
Kennelly is part of the four-person team representing Union Crossing, a 280,000-square-foot new office development in Mott Haven. While leasing has slowed during the pandemic, the team signed a retail deal at the South Bronx property in September, Kennelly said.
He also assisted the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting primary immunodeficiency, with a long-term renewal at 780 Third Avenue, which is also home to the JRT offices.
Kennelly, who attended Arizona State University, was born and raised in Brooklyn, went to high school in Manhattan, and spent summers in Breezy Point in Queens, where both of his grandmothers have houses, so he knows New York. “[In high school,] I would take the train over the bridge every morning, and you’re looking at the skyline from the bridge on the train,” he said. “I always thought that was a pretty cool thing to experience.”
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get out to Breezy Point as much this summer, because his grandparents were limiting their social contact due to the pandemic. Instead, he spent the downtime doubling down on work, attending virtual webinars, and forging Zoom connections.
Now, he’s back at the office several days a week, and riding a Citi Bike during the 15-minute commute instead of taking the subway.
Kennelly’s also appreciating the little, human interactions that people encounter daily in the city, even more than before. “I tried to cherish the times when I did get to see people and chat it up with them, just because, when I did, it usually made my day better.”
