- Kelly Killoren Bensimon is a socialite and philanthropist turned New York City real-estate agent.
- The former “Real Housewives of New York City” star sold $110 million worth of real estate in 2021.
- Killoren Bensimon has used her Rolodex to build an impressive roster of well-known clients.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon is used to the spotlight.
The 54-year-old has been in the public eye since her teen years as a model. It was the beginning of a serpentine career — she’s written coffee-table books for the swanky publishing house Assouline, starred on “The Real Housewives of New York City,” and, most recently, sold ultraluxury real estate.
Killoren Bensimon’s real-estate career began in 2017, when her mother enlisted her to sell the family home in Illinois.
“I’m so grateful that she had the forethought that that was going to be something later on in my life that was really going to help me,” Killoren Bensimon said.
She joined the team of the New York City luxury-real-estate legend Dolly Lenz and then hopped over to Warburg Realty before starting her own team with Douglas Elliman in August 2019. In her stint with the brokerage, Killoren Bensimon closed $110 million in deals in 2021 and has $274 million in active listings. Her accomplishments earned her Douglas Elliman’s 2022 award for rookie of the year in Manhattan.
How? Killoren Bensimon — who uses both her maiden name and the last name of her first husband, the fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon — turned a long list of high-powered connections (who she declined to name, of course) into clients. It pays to be in the spotlight, literally.
Killoren Bensimon, who often appears as a high-fashion prop in her clients’ listings photos, talks with the frenetic pace of a New Yorker for whom there are never enough hours in the day.
Her schedule, from SoulCycle classes to showings to New York Fashion Week parties, proves that out. Here’s what the model-turned-real-estate agent gets done in a day.
6:45 a.m.
Killoren Bensimon is preparing for a Tory Burch-sponsored charity tennis tournament to raise money for the Central Park Conservancy.
“I like sports, but I haven’t played in a couple of months,” she said. “In the spirit of Serena Williams, I am going to go to a wall and hit balls.”
8 a.m.
Time for her SoulCycle class, where networking with neighbors is as important as working out.
“I think when people think of New York, they think of always being around people, and that there’s action,” Killoren Bensimon said. “Actually, New York is an incredibly insular town. And it’s really nice to be in an environment where you’re seeing people that you wouldn’t necessarily see and connecting with them on a different level.”
9 a.m.
She heads to the trendy downtown Manhattan salon Paul Fox for a blowout before a busy day.
A friend stops by to bring Killoren Bensimon a latte with coconut milk while she’s in the hairdresser’s chair. They catch up briefly.
11 a.m.
Killoren Bensimon drives uptown for the first time in the day. She does a showing for a townhouse at 26 West 87th Street, where the jazz singer Billie Holiday lived until her death in 1959.
Evan Joseph Photography
The seven-bedroom brownstone is half a block from Central Park and has been recently renovated in a way that maintains its historic details, like its parlor-floor fireplace mantel.
It’s asking nearly $14 million.
Noon
“I never, ever miss lunch,” Killoren Bensimon said. She heads for home in Nolita — north of Little Italy — and makes a big salad with tofu, tuna, salmon, and chickpeas.
She quickly changes before jumping back into her Range Rover and heading to the Harmonie Club, a private social space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, for the designer Zang Toi’s show at New York Fashion Week.
1 p.m.
It’s time for Killoren Bensimon to get her car inspected, so she heads to the west side of Manhattan. While she’s over there, she gets her car washed.
“There’s a great place on 10th Avenue and 23rd Street where all the guys that have drivers told me to always get my car washed, because they blow in between and they’re super meticulous,” she said. “I’m a big lover of having a clean car.”
2:30 p.m.
She makes another pit stop at home. Killoren Bensimon lives at 240 Centre Street, a grand domed structure nicknamed the Police Building because it used to serve as the New York Police Department’s headquarters until it was converted into luxury condos in the 1980s.
She settles in for meetings with her team about ads they’re running and properties they’re working to sell. Most of her listings are in Manhattan or the Hamptons, but a few are in South Florida.
5 p.m.
Killoren Bensimon is the exclusive listing agent for any units in the Police Building, so she heads downstairs to show a prospective buyer a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment listed for about $4.4 million.
7 p.m.
Killoren Bensimon heads uptown for the third time today, this time for a Fashion Week event celebrating W Magazine’s 50th anniversary at Bergdorf Goodman.
She hangs out with her friend Linda Fargo, the store’s senior vice president of fashion, whom Killoren Bensimon described as the “most important person,” at the event, though she said it was dotted with influencers and models she wouldn’t name (W’s own recap of the event said attendees included the models Karlie Kloss and Precious Lee and the influencers Sydney and Devon Carlson).
8 p.m.
On the drive home she speaks with someone from the Food Bank for New York City, a charity focused on food insecurity that Killoren Bensimon has volunteered for over the past 12 years. On Saturday she’s stuffing meal bags for hungry New Yorkers.
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
“Everyone’s like, ‘Why are you working on the assembly line? Why aren’t you out there interfacing with everyone coming to Food Bank?'” said Killoren Bensimon, who acknowledged that fundraising would be a more obvious fit for her skill set. “My job as an ambassador for Food Bank isn’t necessarily to walk outside and smile. My job is to get food into these people’s hands so that they can enjoy their lives.”
8:45 p.m.
Killoren Bensimon arrives home and has a quick dinner of shrimp shumai and an avocado-and-salmon roll. She ditches the idea of practicing tennis again today ahead of the event later this week.
Some nights before bed she scrolls social media, but not mindlessly.
“I want to see what people are interested in and what they’re doing,” she said, “so when I do see them I can have a different connection with them versus just being like, ‘Hey, you look great.’ I can be like, ‘Oh, I saw that great article about you.’ Just to be able to have a stronger connection with people than on average.”
10 p.m.
“I like sleep a lot,” Killoren Bensimon said. She’s out.
