Northeast Ithaca developer
Rocco P. Lucente, 88, of Briarwood Drive, Ithaca, died at home Monday March 12, 2018. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Rocco P. Lucente
(April 2, 1929 - March 12, 2018)
ITHACA - Rocco P. Lucente of Ithaca, NY died on March 12,2018 at his home with his loving wife by his side. He was born April 2, 1929 in Cleveland, OH to the late Francesco and Marianna Lucente who had emigrated from Rutigliano, Italy. After graduating Ithaca High School, he pursued his entrepreneurial spirit and embarked on a career building houses. In 1950 he established Lucente Homes, and spent the next 68 years developing affordable homes and apartments for the residents of Ithaca. His real estate development stretched from Warren Road to Sapsucker Woods and Hanshaw Road to Route 13. Along the way he was elected President of the Finger Lakes Home Bullders Associatlon, was a member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Builders and Rernodelers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA and was a life-long member of the Elks Club. Over his lifetime he developed much of Northeast Ithaca, and in recognition of his accomplishments, the Town of Ithaca honored Rocco on his 85th Birthday by renaming Briarwood Drive, "Rocco Lucente Way:'
When he wasn't building, you could find Rocco boating on Cayuga Lake or navigating the channels of SW Florida. He was also an avid fan and owner of luxury cars, In his later years he traveled frequently to ltaly to visit family. On his last trip he had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis.
He was a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church. Over the last several years he developed a fond relationship with the parish priest, Father Joe Marcoux.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years Waltraud Lucente sons Christopher, Steve (Pat), Peter (Janet) and Jonathan Lucente, step-children George, Enrique (Sunny) and Susan (Jeff) Stiles along with Mark (Ann) and Michael (Marissa) Lesselroth, He also leaves behind grandchildren Charisse, Yvette, Vanessa, Veronica, Chris, M-Rocco, Max, Adele, Hannah, Katie, Grace, Logan and Gianna and several great grandchildren, and his loving family in Italy, Including his cousins Gaetano Plerrl and wife Elisa, who helped care for him until his last day. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Liane Jones and brother Donald Lucente.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, March 21 from 4 to 7pm at Bangs Funeral Home on Thursday, March 22 at 10am at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, followed by a mass of Christian burial at ll am, The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Hospice care of Ithaca, NY. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Habitat for Humanity, Ithaca PCA or Hospice.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Ask Rocco Lucente where he got his start, and the man who almost single-highhandedly developed Ithaca’s entire northeast over the last 64 years will tell you simply enough: sandwiches.
When he was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, his family had just immigrated from Italy, and within two years, they moved to 705 Catherine St. in Ithaca. Lucente’s father, Francesco, found work selling sandwiches to the fraternity houses just down the street. In the early days of this burgeoning business, he would load 30 sandwiches in a wagon, and with his wife, Marianna, and small son in tow, he’d go from frat house to frat house. By the time he retired from the sandwich-selling business in 1959, he was selling 500 of them a day.
In the process, Francesco Lucente taught his son just how much could be accomplished through sheer determination and hard work.
“My father taught me how to do business. He was very good at that,” said Rocco Lucente, 85. “And as he traveled up the ladder, he bought a few apartment houses, about a dozen and a half by the time he retired. I used to work with him, help him paint the apartments, clean them up. I remember taking the old plaster off the wall and putting Sheetrock up and stuff like that. I was doing that while I was 12, 13, 14 years old. So I learned a lot about it.”...So at the age of 20, Lucente built his first house, on Cliff Street, and that was the start of Lucente Homes. He set his sights on the northeast end of town, where he bought four lots for $450 apiece, and soon he was building houses on Muriel Street, then Warren Road and Christopher Circle.
The homes were not large; in fact, the majority were less than 1,000 square feet. But they were affordable.
“The other builders made fun of me. ‘Oh that Lucente, he’s building cracker boxes on anthills.’ Well, by that time, I had a panel truck with my name on it, Lucente Homes. And I was building more houses than any of the other builders, so I started calling myself Ithaca’s Largest Home Builder,” he said.
In 1960, when he was 30, he was elected president of the Elmira/Chemung Home Builder Association, the first Ithacan to be given the post...Lucente’s business model evolved after the real estate market struck a rocky patch in 1969. With very few houses being sold and banks loaning less money, Lucente began to consider renting the houses he couldn’t sell. It was an idea his fellow builders advised him against....Lucente quickly rented all his unsold houses and found that he could turn a larger profit by building a house, renting it for a few years and then selling it, usually for many thousands of dollars more than the original sale price, because of the rising demand for housing in Ithaca after the market recovered in the early ’70s....Lucente also expanded by building apartment complexes and luxury homes. By his own tally, he’s built somewhere in the vicinity of 600 to 700 houses and apartments. While he has built projects in Lansing and Dryden, the overwhelming majority have been in northeast Ithaca, much of it housing members of the Cornell University community....But one development that has not come to fruition has been Briarwood II, a sequel of sorts to the 26-home Briarwood subdivision where Lucente currently lives with his wife....Briarwood II was initially a 47-lot, 78-unit development proposed for 23 acres south of Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. The project met with resistance from some neighbors, who said that more development would worsen drainage problems in the area....Despite the occasional friction, the town board honored Lucente in February as an “entrepreneurial pioneer who deserves recognition for his contributions to the entire community,” and passed a resolution to co-name Briarwood Drive as Rocco Lucente
Way.
Extracted from "Our People: Rocco Lucente built chunk of Ithaca", The Ithaca Journal, June 20, 2014
Next February marks 60 years that Rocco Lucente will have been actively building homes in Ithaca. In those six decades, Lucente has constructed developments of homes and neighborhoods in the North East region of the town of Ithaca, where he owns 48 acres of land.
Most notable among them is Briarwood I, a stretch of homes that has caused an uproar from neighboring communities who claim the development has weakened water retention qualities in the soil, causing flooding downhill. Dissent has now sprung up in response to Lucente's planned Briarwood II, which would border the existing row of houses and augment water runoff and drainage problems, according to opposition.
The Town of Ithaca has imposed and recently extended a moratorium on development on Lucente's land, set to expire in December, to research other aspects associated with construction - namely, the disruption and potential negative effect on the ecological synergy of the wetlands that Briarwood II would surround.
Lucente and Larry Fabroni, who have been working on blueprint-type plans for more than 40 years, are frustrated with the opposition. They received approval from the town in 1965 to complete a master plan of the area.
"This used to be a big hayfield," Fabroni said, "and when they say [Lucente] hasn't been sensitive to the environment, picture this as an open hayfield, [then] drive down those streets and see how landscaped they are today."
"I would say I am the only builder that's planted thousands of trees around the new houses I've built," Lucente said. "Other builders put their lawn in and then leave it up to the people. If you go up Salem Drive, all these streets here, you'll see they've got trees and everything. Then you have people come to the meetings and they try to tell me that I destroyed all the trees."
Extracted from "Determined Development", The Ithaca Journal Jul 8, 2009
Thanks to contributor kswh (46633789) for help with this memorial
Rocco P. Lucente, 88, of Briarwood Drive, Ithaca, died at home Monday March 12, 2018. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Rocco P. Lucente
(April 2, 1929 - March 12, 2018)
ITHACA - Rocco P. Lucente of Ithaca, NY died on March 12,2018 at his home with his loving wife by his side. He was born April 2, 1929 in Cleveland, OH to the late Francesco and Marianna Lucente who had emigrated from Rutigliano, Italy. After graduating Ithaca High School, he pursued his entrepreneurial spirit and embarked on a career building houses. In 1950 he established Lucente Homes, and spent the next 68 years developing affordable homes and apartments for the residents of Ithaca. His real estate development stretched from Warren Road to Sapsucker Woods and Hanshaw Road to Route 13. Along the way he was elected President of the Finger Lakes Home Bullders Associatlon, was a member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Builders and Rernodelers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA and was a life-long member of the Elks Club. Over his lifetime he developed much of Northeast Ithaca, and in recognition of his accomplishments, the Town of Ithaca honored Rocco on his 85th Birthday by renaming Briarwood Drive, "Rocco Lucente Way:'
When he wasn't building, you could find Rocco boating on Cayuga Lake or navigating the channels of SW Florida. He was also an avid fan and owner of luxury cars, In his later years he traveled frequently to ltaly to visit family. On his last trip he had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis.
He was a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church. Over the last several years he developed a fond relationship with the parish priest, Father Joe Marcoux.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years Waltraud Lucente sons Christopher, Steve (Pat), Peter (Janet) and Jonathan Lucente, step-children George, Enrique (Sunny) and Susan (Jeff) Stiles along with Mark (Ann) and Michael (Marissa) Lesselroth, He also leaves behind grandchildren Charisse, Yvette, Vanessa, Veronica, Chris, M-Rocco, Max, Adele, Hannah, Katie, Grace, Logan and Gianna and several great grandchildren, and his loving family in Italy, Including his cousins Gaetano Plerrl and wife Elisa, who helped care for him until his last day. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Liane Jones and brother Donald Lucente.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, March 21 from 4 to 7pm at Bangs Funeral Home on Thursday, March 22 at 10am at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, followed by a mass of Christian burial at ll am, The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Hospice care of Ithaca, NY. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Habitat for Humanity, Ithaca PCA or Hospice.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Ask Rocco Lucente where he got his start, and the man who almost single-highhandedly developed Ithaca’s entire northeast over the last 64 years will tell you simply enough: sandwiches.
When he was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, his family had just immigrated from Italy, and within two years, they moved to 705 Catherine St. in Ithaca. Lucente’s father, Francesco, found work selling sandwiches to the fraternity houses just down the street. In the early days of this burgeoning business, he would load 30 sandwiches in a wagon, and with his wife, Marianna, and small son in tow, he’d go from frat house to frat house. By the time he retired from the sandwich-selling business in 1959, he was selling 500 of them a day.
In the process, Francesco Lucente taught his son just how much could be accomplished through sheer determination and hard work.
“My father taught me how to do business. He was very good at that,” said Rocco Lucente, 85. “And as he traveled up the ladder, he bought a few apartment houses, about a dozen and a half by the time he retired. I used to work with him, help him paint the apartments, clean them up. I remember taking the old plaster off the wall and putting Sheetrock up and stuff like that. I was doing that while I was 12, 13, 14 years old. So I learned a lot about it.”...So at the age of 20, Lucente built his first house, on Cliff Street, and that was the start of Lucente Homes. He set his sights on the northeast end of town, where he bought four lots for $450 apiece, and soon he was building houses on Muriel Street, then Warren Road and Christopher Circle.
The homes were not large; in fact, the majority were less than 1,000 square feet. But they were affordable.
“The other builders made fun of me. ‘Oh that Lucente, he’s building cracker boxes on anthills.’ Well, by that time, I had a panel truck with my name on it, Lucente Homes. And I was building more houses than any of the other builders, so I started calling myself Ithaca’s Largest Home Builder,” he said.
In 1960, when he was 30, he was elected president of the Elmira/Chemung Home Builder Association, the first Ithacan to be given the post...Lucente’s business model evolved after the real estate market struck a rocky patch in 1969. With very few houses being sold and banks loaning less money, Lucente began to consider renting the houses he couldn’t sell. It was an idea his fellow builders advised him against....Lucente quickly rented all his unsold houses and found that he could turn a larger profit by building a house, renting it for a few years and then selling it, usually for many thousands of dollars more than the original sale price, because of the rising demand for housing in Ithaca after the market recovered in the early ’70s....Lucente also expanded by building apartment complexes and luxury homes. By his own tally, he’s built somewhere in the vicinity of 600 to 700 houses and apartments. While he has built projects in Lansing and Dryden, the overwhelming majority have been in northeast Ithaca, much of it housing members of the Cornell University community....But one development that has not come to fruition has been Briarwood II, a sequel of sorts to the 26-home Briarwood subdivision where Lucente currently lives with his wife....Briarwood II was initially a 47-lot, 78-unit development proposed for 23 acres south of Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. The project met with resistance from some neighbors, who said that more development would worsen drainage problems in the area....Despite the occasional friction, the town board honored Lucente in February as an “entrepreneurial pioneer who deserves recognition for his contributions to the entire community,” and passed a resolution to co-name Briarwood Drive as Rocco Lucente
Way.
Extracted from "Our People: Rocco Lucente built chunk of Ithaca", The Ithaca Journal, June 20, 2014
Next February marks 60 years that Rocco Lucente will have been actively building homes in Ithaca. In those six decades, Lucente has constructed developments of homes and neighborhoods in the North East region of the town of Ithaca, where he owns 48 acres of land.
Most notable among them is Briarwood I, a stretch of homes that has caused an uproar from neighboring communities who claim the development has weakened water retention qualities in the soil, causing flooding downhill. Dissent has now sprung up in response to Lucente's planned Briarwood II, which would border the existing row of houses and augment water runoff and drainage problems, according to opposition.
The Town of Ithaca has imposed and recently extended a moratorium on development on Lucente's land, set to expire in December, to research other aspects associated with construction - namely, the disruption and potential negative effect on the ecological synergy of the wetlands that Briarwood II would surround.
Lucente and Larry Fabroni, who have been working on blueprint-type plans for more than 40 years, are frustrated with the opposition. They received approval from the town in 1965 to complete a master plan of the area.
"This used to be a big hayfield," Fabroni said, "and when they say [Lucente] hasn't been sensitive to the environment, picture this as an open hayfield, [then] drive down those streets and see how landscaped they are today."
"I would say I am the only builder that's planted thousands of trees around the new houses I've built," Lucente said. "Other builders put their lawn in and then leave it up to the people. If you go up Salem Drive, all these streets here, you'll see they've got trees and everything. Then you have people come to the meetings and they try to tell me that I destroyed all the trees."
Extracted from "Determined Development", The Ithaca Journal Jul 8, 2009
Thanks to contributor kswh (46633789) for help with this memorial
Northeast Ithaca developer
Rocco P. Lucente, 88, of Briarwood Drive, Ithaca, died at home Monday March 12, 2018. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Rocco P. Lucente
(April 2, 1929 - March 12, 2018)
ITHACA - Rocco P. Lucente of Ithaca, NY died on March 12,2018 at his home with his loving wife by his side. He was born April 2, 1929 in Cleveland, OH to the late Francesco and Marianna Lucente who had emigrated from Rutigliano, Italy. After graduating Ithaca High School, he pursued his entrepreneurial spirit and embarked on a career building houses. In 1950 he established Lucente Homes, and spent the next 68 years developing affordable homes and apartments for the residents of Ithaca. His real estate development stretched from Warren Road to Sapsucker Woods and Hanshaw Road to Route 13. Along the way he was elected President of the Finger Lakes Home Bullders Associatlon, was a member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Builders and Rernodelers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA and was a life-long member of the Elks Club. Over his lifetime he developed much of Northeast Ithaca, and in recognition of his accomplishments, the Town of Ithaca honored Rocco on his 85th Birthday by renaming Briarwood Drive, "Rocco Lucente Way:'
When he wasn't building, you could find Rocco boating on Cayuga Lake or navigating the channels of SW Florida. He was also an avid fan and owner of luxury cars, In his later years he traveled frequently to ltaly to visit family. On his last trip he had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis.
He was a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church. Over the last several years he developed a fond relationship with the parish priest, Father Joe Marcoux.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years Waltraud Lucente sons Christopher, Steve (Pat), Peter (Janet) and Jonathan Lucente, step-children George, Enrique (Sunny) and Susan (Jeff) Stiles along with Mark (Ann) and Michael (Marissa) Lesselroth, He also leaves behind grandchildren Charisse, Yvette, Vanessa, Veronica, Chris, M-Rocco, Max, Adele, Hannah, Katie, Grace, Logan and Gianna and several great grandchildren, and his loving family in Italy, Including his cousins Gaetano Plerrl and wife Elisa, who helped care for him until his last day. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Liane Jones and brother Donald Lucente.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, March 21 from 4 to 7pm at Bangs Funeral Home on Thursday, March 22 at 10am at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, followed by a mass of Christian burial at ll am, The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Hospice care of Ithaca, NY. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Habitat for Humanity, Ithaca PCA or Hospice.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Ask Rocco Lucente where he got his start, and the man who almost single-highhandedly developed Ithaca’s entire northeast over the last 64 years will tell you simply enough: sandwiches.
When he was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, his family had just immigrated from Italy, and within two years, they moved to 705 Catherine St. in Ithaca. Lucente’s father, Francesco, found work selling sandwiches to the fraternity houses just down the street. In the early days of this burgeoning business, he would load 30 sandwiches in a wagon, and with his wife, Marianna, and small son in tow, he’d go from frat house to frat house. By the time he retired from the sandwich-selling business in 1959, he was selling 500 of them a day.
In the process, Francesco Lucente taught his son just how much could be accomplished through sheer determination and hard work.
“My father taught me how to do business. He was very good at that,” said Rocco Lucente, 85. “And as he traveled up the ladder, he bought a few apartment houses, about a dozen and a half by the time he retired. I used to work with him, help him paint the apartments, clean them up. I remember taking the old plaster off the wall and putting Sheetrock up and stuff like that. I was doing that while I was 12, 13, 14 years old. So I learned a lot about it.”...So at the age of 20, Lucente built his first house, on Cliff Street, and that was the start of Lucente Homes. He set his sights on the northeast end of town, where he bought four lots for $450 apiece, and soon he was building houses on Muriel Street, then Warren Road and Christopher Circle.
The homes were not large; in fact, the majority were less than 1,000 square feet. But they were affordable.
“The other builders made fun of me. ‘Oh that Lucente, he’s building cracker boxes on anthills.’ Well, by that time, I had a panel truck with my name on it, Lucente Homes. And I was building more houses than any of the other builders, so I started calling myself Ithaca’s Largest Home Builder,” he said.
In 1960, when he was 30, he was elected president of the Elmira/Chemung Home Builder Association, the first Ithacan to be given the post...Lucente’s business model evolved after the real estate market struck a rocky patch in 1969. With very few houses being sold and banks loaning less money, Lucente began to consider renting the houses he couldn’t sell. It was an idea his fellow builders advised him against....Lucente quickly rented all his unsold houses and found that he could turn a larger profit by building a house, renting it for a few years and then selling it, usually for many thousands of dollars more than the original sale price, because of the rising demand for housing in Ithaca after the market recovered in the early ’70s....Lucente also expanded by building apartment complexes and luxury homes. By his own tally, he’s built somewhere in the vicinity of 600 to 700 houses and apartments. While he has built projects in Lansing and Dryden, the overwhelming majority have been in northeast Ithaca, much of it housing members of the Cornell University community....But one development that has not come to fruition has been Briarwood II, a sequel of sorts to the 26-home Briarwood subdivision where Lucente currently lives with his wife....Briarwood II was initially a 47-lot, 78-unit development proposed for 23 acres south of Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. The project met with resistance from some neighbors, who said that more development would worsen drainage problems in the area....Despite the occasional friction, the town board honored Lucente in February as an “entrepreneurial pioneer who deserves recognition for his contributions to the entire community,” and passed a resolution to co-name Briarwood Drive as Rocco Lucente
Way.
Extracted from "Our People: Rocco Lucente built chunk of Ithaca", The Ithaca Journal, June 20, 2014
Next February marks 60 years that Rocco Lucente will have been actively building homes in Ithaca. In those six decades, Lucente has constructed developments of homes and neighborhoods in the North East region of the town of Ithaca, where he owns 48 acres of land.
Most notable among them is Briarwood I, a stretch of homes that has caused an uproar from neighboring communities who claim the development has weakened water retention qualities in the soil, causing flooding downhill. Dissent has now sprung up in response to Lucente's planned Briarwood II, which would border the existing row of houses and augment water runoff and drainage problems, according to opposition.
The Town of Ithaca has imposed and recently extended a moratorium on development on Lucente's land, set to expire in December, to research other aspects associated with construction - namely, the disruption and potential negative effect on the ecological synergy of the wetlands that Briarwood II would surround.
Lucente and Larry Fabroni, who have been working on blueprint-type plans for more than 40 years, are frustrated with the opposition. They received approval from the town in 1965 to complete a master plan of the area.
"This used to be a big hayfield," Fabroni said, "and when they say [Lucente] hasn't been sensitive to the environment, picture this as an open hayfield, [then] drive down those streets and see how landscaped they are today."
"I would say I am the only builder that's planted thousands of trees around the new houses I've built," Lucente said. "Other builders put their lawn in and then leave it up to the people. If you go up Salem Drive, all these streets here, you'll see they've got trees and everything. Then you have people come to the meetings and they try to tell me that I destroyed all the trees."
Extracted from "Determined Development", The Ithaca Journal Jul 8, 2009
Thanks to contributor kswh (46633789) for help with this memorial
Rocco P. Lucente, 88, of Briarwood Drive, Ithaca, died at home Monday March 12, 2018. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Rocco P. Lucente
(April 2, 1929 - March 12, 2018)
ITHACA - Rocco P. Lucente of Ithaca, NY died on March 12,2018 at his home with his loving wife by his side. He was born April 2, 1929 in Cleveland, OH to the late Francesco and Marianna Lucente who had emigrated from Rutigliano, Italy. After graduating Ithaca High School, he pursued his entrepreneurial spirit and embarked on a career building houses. In 1950 he established Lucente Homes, and spent the next 68 years developing affordable homes and apartments for the residents of Ithaca. His real estate development stretched from Warren Road to Sapsucker Woods and Hanshaw Road to Route 13. Along the way he was elected President of the Finger Lakes Home Bullders Associatlon, was a member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Builders and Rernodelers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA and was a life-long member of the Elks Club. Over his lifetime he developed much of Northeast Ithaca, and in recognition of his accomplishments, the Town of Ithaca honored Rocco on his 85th Birthday by renaming Briarwood Drive, "Rocco Lucente Way:'
When he wasn't building, you could find Rocco boating on Cayuga Lake or navigating the channels of SW Florida. He was also an avid fan and owner of luxury cars, In his later years he traveled frequently to ltaly to visit family. On his last trip he had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis.
He was a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church. Over the last several years he developed a fond relationship with the parish priest, Father Joe Marcoux.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years Waltraud Lucente sons Christopher, Steve (Pat), Peter (Janet) and Jonathan Lucente, step-children George, Enrique (Sunny) and Susan (Jeff) Stiles along with Mark (Ann) and Michael (Marissa) Lesselroth, He also leaves behind grandchildren Charisse, Yvette, Vanessa, Veronica, Chris, M-Rocco, Max, Adele, Hannah, Katie, Grace, Logan and Gianna and several great grandchildren, and his loving family in Italy, Including his cousins Gaetano Plerrl and wife Elisa, who helped care for him until his last day. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Liane Jones and brother Donald Lucente.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, March 21 from 4 to 7pm at Bangs Funeral Home on Thursday, March 22 at 10am at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, followed by a mass of Christian burial at ll am, The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Hospice care of Ithaca, NY. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Habitat for Humanity, Ithaca PCA or Hospice.
Information from Bangs Funeral Home
Ask Rocco Lucente where he got his start, and the man who almost single-highhandedly developed Ithaca’s entire northeast over the last 64 years will tell you simply enough: sandwiches.
When he was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, his family had just immigrated from Italy, and within two years, they moved to 705 Catherine St. in Ithaca. Lucente’s father, Francesco, found work selling sandwiches to the fraternity houses just down the street. In the early days of this burgeoning business, he would load 30 sandwiches in a wagon, and with his wife, Marianna, and small son in tow, he’d go from frat house to frat house. By the time he retired from the sandwich-selling business in 1959, he was selling 500 of them a day.
In the process, Francesco Lucente taught his son just how much could be accomplished through sheer determination and hard work.
“My father taught me how to do business. He was very good at that,” said Rocco Lucente, 85. “And as he traveled up the ladder, he bought a few apartment houses, about a dozen and a half by the time he retired. I used to work with him, help him paint the apartments, clean them up. I remember taking the old plaster off the wall and putting Sheetrock up and stuff like that. I was doing that while I was 12, 13, 14 years old. So I learned a lot about it.”...So at the age of 20, Lucente built his first house, on Cliff Street, and that was the start of Lucente Homes. He set his sights on the northeast end of town, where he bought four lots for $450 apiece, and soon he was building houses on Muriel Street, then Warren Road and Christopher Circle.
The homes were not large; in fact, the majority were less than 1,000 square feet. But they were affordable.
“The other builders made fun of me. ‘Oh that Lucente, he’s building cracker boxes on anthills.’ Well, by that time, I had a panel truck with my name on it, Lucente Homes. And I was building more houses than any of the other builders, so I started calling myself Ithaca’s Largest Home Builder,” he said.
In 1960, when he was 30, he was elected president of the Elmira/Chemung Home Builder Association, the first Ithacan to be given the post...Lucente’s business model evolved after the real estate market struck a rocky patch in 1969. With very few houses being sold and banks loaning less money, Lucente began to consider renting the houses he couldn’t sell. It was an idea his fellow builders advised him against....Lucente quickly rented all his unsold houses and found that he could turn a larger profit by building a house, renting it for a few years and then selling it, usually for many thousands of dollars more than the original sale price, because of the rising demand for housing in Ithaca after the market recovered in the early ’70s....Lucente also expanded by building apartment complexes and luxury homes. By his own tally, he’s built somewhere in the vicinity of 600 to 700 houses and apartments. While he has built projects in Lansing and Dryden, the overwhelming majority have been in northeast Ithaca, much of it housing members of the Cornell University community....But one development that has not come to fruition has been Briarwood II, a sequel of sorts to the 26-home Briarwood subdivision where Lucente currently lives with his wife....Briarwood II was initially a 47-lot, 78-unit development proposed for 23 acres south of Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. The project met with resistance from some neighbors, who said that more development would worsen drainage problems in the area....Despite the occasional friction, the town board honored Lucente in February as an “entrepreneurial pioneer who deserves recognition for his contributions to the entire community,” and passed a resolution to co-name Briarwood Drive as Rocco Lucente
Way.
Extracted from "Our People: Rocco Lucente built chunk of Ithaca", The Ithaca Journal, June 20, 2014
Next February marks 60 years that Rocco Lucente will have been actively building homes in Ithaca. In those six decades, Lucente has constructed developments of homes and neighborhoods in the North East region of the town of Ithaca, where he owns 48 acres of land.
Most notable among them is Briarwood I, a stretch of homes that has caused an uproar from neighboring communities who claim the development has weakened water retention qualities in the soil, causing flooding downhill. Dissent has now sprung up in response to Lucente's planned Briarwood II, which would border the existing row of houses and augment water runoff and drainage problems, according to opposition.
The Town of Ithaca has imposed and recently extended a moratorium on development on Lucente's land, set to expire in December, to research other aspects associated with construction - namely, the disruption and potential negative effect on the ecological synergy of the wetlands that Briarwood II would surround.
Lucente and Larry Fabroni, who have been working on blueprint-type plans for more than 40 years, are frustrated with the opposition. They received approval from the town in 1965 to complete a master plan of the area.
"This used to be a big hayfield," Fabroni said, "and when they say [Lucente] hasn't been sensitive to the environment, picture this as an open hayfield, [then] drive down those streets and see how landscaped they are today."
"I would say I am the only builder that's planted thousands of trees around the new houses I've built," Lucente said. "Other builders put their lawn in and then leave it up to the people. If you go up Salem Drive, all these streets here, you'll see they've got trees and everything. Then you have people come to the meetings and they try to tell me that I destroyed all the trees."
Extracted from "Determined Development", The Ithaca Journal Jul 8, 2009
Thanks to contributor kswh (46633789) for help with this memorial
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