By Liz Goff

Out of stone and mortar (with an occasional slice of aluminum siding), Queens developers like Sam LeFrak and Cord Meyer left their mark on the borough.
The personalities of major development companies in Queens-and the developers themselves-have forged a signature on neighborhoods throughout the borough.

Cord Meyer Development Corporation

Back in the 19th Century, Elmhurst was still known as Newtown Village, until Cord Meyer arrived on the scene and built “modernistic” houses on 1,700 lots in the area.

Meyer wanted to sell his houses, but realized that people would not lay down their money to live near the stench associated with Newtown Creek. So he promoted the idea of a name change for the area to “Elmhurst,” for the many elm trees that grew there.

Meyer’s houses sold for $600 each in Elmhurst-and his name lives on in the present day development company.

Cord Meyer is today, one of the largest private developers in Queens. Developers of the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, Cord Meyer is currently “cool” to apartment development, but is always vigilant, on the creative cusp of housing development in the city’s most diverse borough.

The LeFrak Organization

They want to be known as “the company” with the family name-LeFrak for business and LeFrak for the last name of the company’s founder.

LeFrak developed the largest apartment complex ever in Queens – the 5,000-unit LeFrak City built along the Long Island Expressway in the 1960s.

The complex features office buildings, retail space, an elementary school, and other amenities ad infinum – a city within a borough within a city.

From 1939 through the early 1950s, LeFrak built six and eight story apartment buildings in Rego Park, Forest Hills, Jackson Heights, and Flushing – each bearing the name of one of the then-existing 48 states in the U.S.

The state of LeFrak development in Queens has been reactivated in recent years, back from a slowdown during the recession of the late 1980s.
Plans are on the board for new development in Queens, a company spokesperson said. Where and when? They’re not saying, yet.

The Muss Development Corporation

The Muss Development Corporation became one of the key players in Queens development through the westward expansion of downtown Flushing. The 14-acre Flushing Light Development Center created a mixture of commercial, retail and residential space with an eye in future development.

Muss has been a vital force in the development of Queens since 1906, when its founder, Isaac Muss, migrated to the U.S. from Russia via Capetown, South Africa, where he worked as a general contractor.

Prior to the Depression, Muss acquired a 1,000-acre farm in Bayside, where he built over 1,500 homes-personally supervising the job from his horse and buggy.
Four generations of the family have followed Isaac, growing and developing the communities of Queens.

The Briarwood Organization

Founded in 1912 by Luigi Riso, an immigrant from Calabria, Italy, the Briarwood Organization squeaked through the Depression to become one of the oldest and largest developers in Queens.

Briarwood first left its impressions on Queens during the building “boom” of the 1920s, developing 300-400 apartments in Corona and Jackson Heights and by working as general contractors for the development of additional units.

Briarwood recently completed construction of 107 three-story, two-family units with 9,000 square feet of retail space at 21st Street and 33rd Avenue, in Long Island City.

Where open space and auto storage lots stood, families of medium income now live in the units. Food retailers like Subway and Dunkin Donuts line the street, bringing business to the area and life to the community.

The Mattone Group

Joseph M. Mattone Sr., has been an attorney since 1956. He has engaged in real estate financing and development work and recently, with his sons, completed a Pathmark shopping facility in Southeast Queens for $28,000,000 and completed construction on a $80,000,000 project called Jamaica Center – Site One, which combines retail shopping and a National Amusements movie theatre with two levels of parking.

The Mattone Group is currently proceeding with the construction of the new Elmhurst Theater at the intersection of the Long Island Expressway and Queens Boulevard. This project wil be a 15 screen multiplex theater in Elmhurst, Queens. It adjoins the Queens Center Mall.

The Mattone Group has also purchased the former CYO camp in Whitestone, and is developing 110 single-family homes called Waterside Estates at Cresthaven. The first phase and second phase of 52 homes has already been completed and contracted. The remaining 58 units in phase three will mostly consist of waterfront and water view homes.

The history of the law firm began in 1956, now consists of the four children of Joseph M. Mattone, Sr. They are, Irene Mattone, Teresa Mattone, Joseph M. Mattone Jr., and Michael X. Mattone. The firm represents many national and local banks for closing real estate mortgages and engages in the practice of law.

–Information provided by the Mattone Group