Michael Falcone
Michael “Mike” Falcone ’57 often said he was born into a family of entrepreneurs, and when he passed away on April 10, 2024, accolades poured in for the man who helped develop millions of square feet of office buildings, shopping centers, assisted living centers, hotels and urban mixed used projects throughout the nation.
The Business Council of New York, representing thousands of companies, chambers of commerce and professional and trade associations, observed his “passion for the state’s business community and vision for growing the economy.”
The Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) had previously honored the Falcone family with the OHA Medal Award, noting a “generational legacy of entrepreneurship that literally and figuratively built the Syracuse community.”
Falcone was also deeply committed to his alma mater. He earned a bachelor’s degree in real estate from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and carved a career in real estate development that impacted the University (building graduate student housing at an early point in his career) and its surroundings. He served the Board of Trustees as a voting trustee from 1995 to 2009, and later as a life trustee participant on the Board Facilities Committee. Falcone was also a member on the Whitman School of Management Advisory Council. In 1992, he was awarded the Whitman School’s Jonathan J. Holtz Alumnus of the Year.
Well before he attended Syracuse University, at the age of 16, Falcone began a real estate career, inspired by his family’s successes in business. “It didn’t surprise me to learn that Mike was the youngest licensed real estate salesman in New York state,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “He loved developing and enhancing communities, and he was dedicated to the idea of inspiring that kind of passion in future generations of students.”
He and his late wife, Noreen, were fundamental to the creation of the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises program. They established the Michael J. Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises and the Michael J. Falcone Endowment Fund for Entrepreneurship and were early supporters of the Whitman School’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) program.
Falcone’s goal was to boost entrepreneurial activity on campus and in the region, providing funding for a center that provides valuable resources and advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. The Falcone family also created the Falcone Chair in Real Estate.
Falcone was an influential real estate developer throughout Upstate New York spanning from the early 1960s. In his early years as a real estate broker for Egan Real Estate in Syracuse, he started buying small rental properties, improving them, and eventually selling them. After serving in the Air Force Reserve, he began purchasing and redeveloping shopping centers throughout Upstate New York. In 1969, he and classmate Robert Congel from Christian Brothers Academy formed the Pyramid Companies, building shopping centers, warehouses, office buildings and student apartments throughout the Northeast.
Less than a decade later, Falcone started his own development company, the Pioneer Group, the predecessor to today’s Pioneer Companies, a property management and development company headquartered in Syracuse whose projects have included master-planned industrial parks, stand-alone rehabilitation centers, new-urbanist living communities, suburban office parks, downtown office buildings, high-rise mixed-use developments, lifestyle shopping centers and various senior housing and hospitality products. After stepping back from his role as chairman, Falcone became chairman emeritus, described by the company as an “engaged advisor on our existing portfolio as well as new investment opportunities.”
Falcone and his wife, Noreen, who died in May 2021, were well-known throughout Syracuse and Skaneateles because of their civic involvement and philanthropy. They lived most of their lives together in Central New York, and, for many years, had a home in North Palm Beach, Florida, where Falcone passed away. They took great pleasure in grape-growing and wine-making through their involvement in Hobbit Hollow Vineyard in Skaneateles, which grows Pinot Noir and Riesling grapes and serves as a grower for Heart & Hands Wine Company, Union Springs, New York, among others.
Their portfolio of philanthropic initiatives include the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the WAER public media organization. They also supported Le Moyne College, Christian Brothers Academy, Skaneateles Festival, The Skaneateles Lake Association, the Finger Lakes Land Trust, The Everson Museum, Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, Syracuse Symphony and Opera, and Francis House.
Some of Michael’s awards include the Syracuse Mayor’s Achievement Award, the Boy Power Distinguished Citizen Award, Temple Adath Yeshurun Citizen of the Year Award and the Post-Standard Achievement Award.
Falcone (who was known to his closest friends as Mickey) was also an avid traveler, hunter, golfer, skier (he skied into his 80s) and could be seen often rowing his Adirondack boat on Skaneateles Lake. He was also an enthusiastic fan of horse racing.
Falcone is survived by his children Michael, Mark, Michelle and Melissa; 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Three of his grandchildren are Syracuse University alumni: Olivia L. Falcone ’14 (College of Arts and Sciences), Michael J. Falcone ’15 (Falk College) and Gabriella Drumm ’22 (College of Arts and Sciences).
