Henry Elghanayan
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Henry Elghanayan (; born August 2, 1940) is an Iranian-born American real estate developer who co-founded and is the current chairman the Rockrose Development Corporation.
October 31, 2009
Wall Street Journal: 'Nearing the Final Piece of Property Divorce - The Elghanayan Brothers Are Close to Finalizing a High-Profile Business Divorce" By Anjali Athavaley
May 27, 2013


Early life and education

Henry Elghanayan was born Houchang Elghanayan on August 2, 1940The Real Deal: "Henry Elghanayan" By Katherine Clarke
retrieved November 5, 2016
to a Persian-Jewish family in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Elghanayan's father, Nourallah, belonged to a prominent manufacturing family in Iran during the reign of
Mohammad Reza Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...
and was also involved in the import-export business. His uncle,
Habib Elghanian Habib (Habibollah) Elghanian (; 5 April 1912 – 9 May 1979) was a prominent Iranian Jewish businessman and philanthropist who served as the president of the Tehran Jewish Society and acted as the symbolic head of the Iranian Jewish community i ...
, was executed in 1979. In 1945, his father moved the family to
Forest Hills, Queens Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast and Flushing ...
where he made investments in real estate. Henry has three brothers: Kamran Thomas (born 1945), Frederick (born 1949), and Jeffrey (born 1955); and one sister, Lili (born 1944). Henry graduated with a B.A. from
Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...
, an M.B.A. from
Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...
, and a J.D. from
New York University Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
.Real Estate Board of New York: "H. Henry Elghanayan"
retrieved November 5, 2016
While in law school, he worked as a rental real estate agent.


Career

In 1970, with $100,000 in seed money from their father, the three eldest brothers renovated a six-apartment walk-up apartment building in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
but nearly lost their investment when the market collapsed. Once the market recovered, they refinanced and invested in ever larger buildings on the
Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...
and in
Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...
including the 337 unit Turtle Bay Towers; the historic 479 unit Archive in the
West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...
, which they converted into lofts; the Cast Iron Building; and the
Carnegie Hall Tower Carnegie Hall Tower is a skyscraper at 152 West 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1990 and designed by César Pelli, the building measures tall with 60 stories. Due to the presence of Carnegie H ...
. The brothers divided their responsibilities with lawyer Henry responsible for financing; engineer Fred responsible for construction; and
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
and
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
business school graduate Tom responsible for development and acquisitions. His youngest brother, Jeffrey, would later join the firm as an architect. They took a conservative approach to financing, never borrowing more than 75% of the buildings cost (as compared to the more typical 95%). In the 1990s, they expanded throughout New York City, converting office buildings into apartments in the
Financial district A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
and pioneering developments on the
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
waterfront in
Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
and
West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. They diversified their portfolio into metropolitan
Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. In August 2008, Henry initiated the dissolving of the partnership. His brothers disagreed with his desire to move the firm more into development rather than renovation and leasing as well as to take on outside partners. They also balked at naming Henry's son, Justin, as successor to the business. They divided the assets into three portfolios and drew straws to determine who would own which portfolio. Henry won the firm's development projects, the right to the Rockrose name, and eight residential buildings with 2,634 apartments. Tom and Fred received the remainder consisting of 5,000 apartments in 13 buildings, the office building portfolio, and their properties in Long Island City and continued on as partners with their new firm TF Cornerstone. The day before they divided their assets, their mother died; the day after, their father died. Under Henry's management, Rockrose has acquired over $600 million in additional properties in New York City and
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and developed the $300 million apartment building, Linc LIC, in Court Square in Long Island City.


Personal life

In 1965, Elghanayan married Nancy, to whom he rented an apartment while he was in law school. They have three children. Elghanayan is an art collector and philanthropist.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elghanayan, Henry 1940 births American people of Iranian-Jewish descent American businesspeople in real estate Living people Iranian emigrants to the United States Elghanayan family