A Family Affair.The brothers LeFrak The family is the business for sixth-generation executives James and Harrison LeFrak of The Lefrak Organization. "And the seventh generation is in the bullpen," says their grandfather, Sam LeFrak, 83, chairman of the company. Sam's great-grandfather, Maurice, founded the business in France back in the 19th century. Sam's father then founded The Lefrak Organization -- on United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. soil-in 1905. In the 95-odd years since, the company has constructed over a quarter of a million apartment units and twelve million square feet of commercial space. It even has its own city -- Lefrak City, the Queens complex that houses 5,000 apartments and plenty of commercial space, all built on reclaimed land. Two years ago, the Lefrak Organization ranked 45th on Forbes' list of the top 500 private companies, with revenues of $2.8 billion. The firm does not strictly work the real estate sector -- its myriad holdings include oil/gas exploration and entertainment (music publishing The contractual relationship between a songwriter or music composer and a music publisher, whereby the writer assigns part or all of his or her music copyrights to the publisher in exchange for the publisher's commercial exploitation of the music. , cable television, motion pictures, et al.) The business is a considerable concern, closely held A phrase used to describe the ownership, management, and operation of a corporation by a small group of people. In a closely held corporation, the same people often act as shareholders, directors, and officers, and no outside investors exist. and ruled by family throughout the generations. The family's name, it should be noted, is LeFrak while the firm's name is written Lefrak, done so that the family's French origins are highlighted. "It is a wonderful thing to get to work with your family," says Harrison LeFrak, 29, executive vice president. Harrison's younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration from Columbia while James, who attended Princeton as an undergraduate, earned a master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, . "They both achieved excellence in academics," says Sam LeFrak, with pride, of his grandsons. On another front, James is an avid marathon runner though, at the time of this interview, he was suffering from a stress fracture stress fracture n. A fatigue fracture of bone caused by repeated application of a heavy load, such as the constant pounding on a surface by runners, gymnasts, and dancers. . His philosophy of real estate? "It is all about completing buildings and passing by them and knowing that you built that," said James. James also said that his brother loves "trophy deals." James credits an engineering background for his detail-oriented approach. But the real graduate program, says James, was his personal experience. "Being raised in a real estate family is like being enrolled in a graduate program from the age of five," says James. His brother obviously agrees, with one caveat. "Your family ends up permeating per·me·ate v. per·me·at·ed, per·me·at·ing, per·me·ates v.tr. 1. To spread or flow throughout; pervade: "Our thinking is permeated by our historical myths" your entire life. You really have to be comfortable with going into a family business. This is a long-term commitment," says Harrison. Long term? Perpetual is more like it, especially when you consider that subsequent generations will replace both brothers in due course. But therein lies the strength of The Lefrak Organization, a strength exemplified by the solidarity among colleagues who also happen to be family. Though both brothers have worked on several high-profile projects, their current focus across the Hudson -- a 600-acre mixed-use community called Newport -- is taking up the lion's share of their time and energy. "This is a $10 billion development," says Sam LeFrak of Newport. "It will be a case study for urban planners List of urban planners chronological by initial year of plan.
There is nothing humble about the Newport project: its scale is monumental. Their plan calls for housing for 50,000 people, more than 5 million square feet of office space and 2 million square feet of retail. It will also include a 285-slip marina and seven miles worth of esplanade. "We timed the market just right on this one," says James, referring to the Newport project. It is scheduled to open within the next five years. There are no indications that a sibling rivalry sibling rivalry Psychology The intense, emotional competition among siblings–brothers and/or sisters that pits one against the other to obtain parental affection, approval, attention, and love. See Cain complex. Cf Oy child, Sibling relational problem. exists between Harrison and James. Rather, they both seem to understand where the other fits into the business and how each of their talents can best be applied. "I have total trust and confidence in my brother James," said Harrison. "It's very complimentary." |
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