Joseph Moinian (born February 25, 1954) is an Iranian-American

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to othe ...

, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of The Moinian Group, one of the largest privately held real-estate firms in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Early life

Moinian was born in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most pop ...

to a

Persian Jewish Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor s ...

family, the son of Ayoub Moinian and Sara Moinian. His father was also a real estate developer. At the age of 17, Joseph Moinian immigrated to the United States by himself. Moinian graduated from Forest Hills High School and attended but did not complete a degree in business administration from

The City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

before embarking on a career in consumer retail and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

.The Real Deal: "Joe Moinian" By Candace Taylor
retrieved October 28, 2013

Career

After arriving in the United States at the age of 17, Moinian began his first job working in the kitchen at the Cozy Corner restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens. Moinian's first business venture was in women's fashion. He used his knowledge of the

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

business to create Billy Jack for Her, a successful women's apparel company named after the 1971 movie ''

Billy Jack ''Billy Jack'' is a 1971 American action drama independent film, the second of four films centering on a character of the same name which began with the movie ''The Born Losers'' (1967), played by Tom Laughlin, who directed and co-wrote the scri ...

''.

The Moinian Group

In 1982, Moinian founded The Moinian Group to invest in

, leveraging his earnings from his apparel company to purchase buildings in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Joseph Moinian's first acquisition was 450-460 Park Avenue South, a nearly 200,000-square-foot office building located in Manhattan's Midtown South. Since 1982 The Moinian Group has grown into one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the

, with a

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...

of over 20 million square feet across major cities including New York,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

.Moinian Group Website: Overview
retrieved October 28, 2013The New York Observer: "Kind of Blue: Joe Moinian Lives the 3 Columbus Circle Dream" by Matt Chaban
September 20, 2011 The Moinian Group funds, develops, and owns properties in every major asset category, including office,

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

, and residential.New York Observer: "Joseph Chetrit, the Most Mysterious Big Shot in New York Real Estate" by Tom Acitelli
July 5, 2011Real Estate Weekly: "Joe Moinian: How I survived the slump" By Al Barbarino
March 14, 2012
June 11, 2013 Over 35 years Moinian led the investment, development, and management of 20 million square feet of real estate, including 3 Columbus Circle,

3 Hudson Boulevard 3 Hudson Boulevard (previously known as GiraSole) is a skyscraper on hold along the Hudson Park and Boulevard in the Hudson Yards and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. Its developer is Joseph Moinian. History and devel ...

, Hudson Arts Building, Sky, Oskar, PLG, 535-545 Fifth Avenue,

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...

, and The International Jewelry Center, among others.

Philanthropy

Moinian was chairman of the

UJA-Federation of New York UJA-Federation of New York ( United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annuall ...

in 2010 and remains on its highest committee. Moinian is a co-founder and board member of the

National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

in Lower Manhattan, a nonprofit established in memory of the victims and heroes of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. He donated roughly $5 million to the museum prior to its dedication in 2014. Mr. Moinian is also a long-time supporter of The Special Children's Center in New Jersey, a service program for people with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

and was the guest of honor at the organization's second-annual

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

. He also serves on the board of trustees for the Sephardic Heritage Alliance, dedicated to the support of Persian Jewish families’ and individuals’ preservation of its proud three-millennial cultural heritage. Moinian is a supporter of the Keshet Eilon Music Centre in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Recognition

Moinian is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. He also sits on the board of the Skyline Museum. In 2019, Moinian was ranked 29th in The Commercial Observer's Power 100: Commercial Real Estate's Most Powerful Players. In 2018, The Moinian Group was named Manhattan's fifth most active developer by The Real Deal, with 2.6 million square feet of development activity.

Personal life

Joseph Moinian is married to Nazee Moinian, also from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, whom he met when he was 26. They have five children and reside in Manhattan. Joseph Moinian has secondary residences in

Quogue, New York Quogue () is a village in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 967, down from 1,018 at the 2000 census. Geography Accor ...

, and

. Joseph Moinian has five children: Matthew Moinian, Mitchell Moinian, Mahtab (Max) Moinian, Michaela Moinian, and Morgan Moinian. Joseph Moinian has two brothers: Morris Moinian, real estate developer and founder of Fortuna Realty Group, and David Moinian, real estate developer and founder of Moin Development Corp. Joseph Moinian is active in the Persian-Jewish community and is involved in the development of a Jewish temple in

Midwood, Brooklyn Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, a ...

and other synagogues in New York under construction.

References

External links

City University of New York - The Stoler Report: "Joseph Moinian, The Moinian Group
October 10, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moinian, Joseph 1954 births Living people American people of Iranian-Jewish descent American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City Iranian Jews Jewish American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews