While most people are getting ready for the holidays, the Queens Chamber of Commerce has one major event left on its 2009 calendar – the 97th Annual Building Awards and Reception.
This year’s festivities, which will take place on December 3 at Terrace on the Park, will honor winners for their outstanding contributions to the Queens business community and helping to make the borough a more beautiful place. Building owners, architects and contractors will all receive awards from the Chamber.
The Chamber’s Building Awards Committee reviewed entries from numerous applicants and selected winners in New Construction and Rehab categories. After reviewing all of the applications, the Chamber committee selected winners in the respective categories, and all of the honorees will receive a plaque and recognition during the Building Awards ceremony.
This year, the Chamber is giving out three special awards including an overall award and two Chamber Hall of Fame Awards for excellence in design. The overall award goes to Court Square Plaza, which is located at 24-01 44th Road and owned by United Nations Federal Credit Union. HLW International was the architecture firm for the building and Tishman Construction Group was the developer.
The Chamber also honored two buildings – the Frank Sinatra School for the Arts and JetBlue Airways Terminal 5 – with Hall of Fame Awards. The Frank Sinatra School for the Arts is located at 35-12 35th Avenue and it is owned by the NYC School Construction Authority. Polshek Partnership Architects was the architecture firm for the project and Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp was the developer. JetBlue Airways Terminal 5 is located at JFK Airport; Gehsler & DMJN (AECOM) designed the space; and, Turner Construction Company was the developer.
In addition, the Chamber is also presenting a lifetime achievement award to Joshua Muss, the Principal of Muss Development Corporation. Founded in 1906 with the arrival of his grandfather to Brooklyn, Joshua L. Muss is the third generation head of Muss Development LLC. He grew up in Queens: Jackson Heights, Flushing and Forest Hills. A graduate of Yeshiva College and Harvard Law School, he joined the business in 1965. The office was first located in Jackson Heights and has moved to, and grown in, Forest Hills.
Over the span of years, its principals have completed the construction of well over 15 million-square-feet for Muss Development projects. Early projects in Queens spanned the borough including housing, retail and commercial construction in Beechhurst, College Point, Astoria, Bayside, Jackson Heights, Jamaica and Forest Hills. More recent and current development and construction encompass over 6 million square-feet, including a 20-acre waterfront community in south Staten Island, 950 mid-rise condominium units on the ocean in Brighton Beach, several locations in Manhattan, and Brooklyn Renaissance Plaza including the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. Moreover, Muss Development’s flagship project is now nearing occupancy – Sky View Parc in Flushing, which will eventually encompass almost 3.5 million square-feet.
The Muss values have remained constant over the past 103 years. Aside from the daily activity of a most challenging business, the family has assumed leadership roles in industry, civic and charitable causes in the communities in which they develop and where they live.
“It is extremely gratifying to be recognized for what we have done in the past,” Joshua Muss said. “At the same time, we look ahead at all that is still left to be accomplished. Muss Development is in the home stretch of our biggest and most exciting project yet – Sky View Parc, which will be a boon for Flushing and the City of New York. We look forward to celebrating its grand opening in the very near future.”
The reception will take place on Thursday, December 3 at 6 p.m. at Terrace on the Park. There is still time to register for the event and the congratulatory journal that will be given out that night. For more information, log onto www.queenschamber.org or call the Chamber at 718-898-8500.
