Real Estate Developer Joseph Mattone Dies at 92

Joseph Mattone, a real estate developer and lawyer, died on March 21 at his home in New York. He was 92.

No cause of death was provided by QNS, which reported the death of the Mattone Investors founder.

Mattone was born in 1931 and raised in Greenpoint, Brooklyn during the height of the Great Depression. He attended public school in Williamsburg and completed his high school education at St. John’s Preparatory School in Astoria, ultimately going on to earn both his bachelor’s and law degrees from St. John’s College.

After launching a law practice in Greenpoint, which dealt with real estate financing and development, Mattone founded his Mattone Investors in the late 1950s.

Today, Mattone’s portfolio spans more than 4 million square feet of commercial, residential and industrial space. Its most prominent holding is the Jamaica Center, a massive retail complex in the heart of Queens that opened in 2002. Other holdings have included Pathmark Plaza in Springfield Gardens, Queens, and the Embassy Tower apartment complex and retail center at 68th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Mattone’s son, Michael Mattone, took over the company as chief executive officer. The late Joseph Mattone held the post of chairperson until his death.

Part of the St. John’s Law School is named in Mattone’s honor, including the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law. Mattone earned an honorary doctor of law from St. John’s University in 1994 and was an inaugural member of the Founder’s Society, a status reserved for those who donated at least $1 million to the university.

“Thanks to his unwavering generosity, Joe’s legacy lives on at the Law School, in our Queens community, and in the wider legal and business worlds,” St. John’s University said in a press release.

Kleinberg was preceded in death by his first wife of 60 years, Irene Ficarra. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Pessolano, seven children and 27 grandchildren.

— Holden Walter-Warner