A year after Thomas and Frederick Elghanayan formed TF Cornerstone, breaking off from their brother Henry and the Rockrose Development Corporation, Frederick, 62, opened up about the young company’s success so far. “People said it was impossible to get construction financing, but we’ve had a lot of interest in banks giving us construction money,” Frederick told the Observer. TF Cornerstone broke ground three months ago on a 41-story, 380-unit apartment building in Long Island City — which Frederick would only refer to as “East Coast Number Four” — with the foundation slated for completion in the next two weeks. The company also gave foundation orders last week for another New York City building, “so we actually have our hands very full right now,” Frederick said. [more]

Frederick Elghanayan, co-founder of TF Cornerstone

From the December issue: TF Cornerstone — the real estate firm formed by two of the three Elghanayan brothers who ran the Rockrose Development Corp. before it split up earlier this year — has a strong head start on other companies launching in this climate. The firm kept 15 properties from Rockrose’s portfolio, including 505 West 37th Street, whose 837 units are set to be completed in January. The company gets its initials from the two brothers, Tom (the chairman) and Frederick (the president), at its helm. While the original empire that the three Elghanayans created may now be defunct, the empires of the ancient world, as depicted in stone busts and art books, are intact in Frederick’s office at 290 Park Avenue South. (See his desk after the jump.)  More

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Duane Reade, the New York City drug store mainstay that’s been updating its image over the past year, has announced that a new 8,500-square-foot location at 200 Water Street will be the first store to feature its new, remodeled interior. The drug store reportedly chose the location in part because of the influx of renters in the region, as 15 new residential buildings have cropped up in the Financial District in the last four years, according to Patricia Dunphy, senior vice president of Rockrose Development, which owns the 200 Water Street building. Duane Reade plans to re-brand 100 of its 253 locations in the city this year, adding better-lit, wider aisles and new interior fixtures.
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From left: K. Thomas Elghanayan and brother Frederick started TF Cornerstone

Now that the division of Rockrose has been finalized, the two younger Elghanayan brothers are looking to snap up distressed assets. “Our plan is to look for properties that are in some form of incomplete state,” K. Thomas Elghanayan, who with his brother Frederick is now doing business under the name TF Cornerstone, told The Real Deal.
“We can take something that’s half-built and we can finish it, manage
it, rent it out, sell it, and do whatever we need to do. We’re looking
at a couple of opportunities like that, where we’d be buying these
[properties] from financial institutions.” In fact, he said, TF (for Thomas and Frederick) Cornerstone is close to making a deal on two properties in the New York metro area: one is a “broken condo,” and another is a development deal where construction started and stopped. [more]

The three Elghanayan brothers, from left: Thomas, Henry and Frederick

The former heads of residential giant Rockrose Development have finalized the details of their split, the two companies confirmed today, ending months of speculation about how the Elghanayan brothers would divide their real estate empire. H. Henry Elghanayan, the oldest of the brothers, who is keeping the Rockrose name, is now doing business at 666 Fifth Avenue, according to a statement released by Rockrose. He will retain some 2,600 apartment units and a 60,000-square-foot development site across from the Javits Center, Rockrose said, and will be developing “three strategic sites” in Long Island City. [more]

As the Elghanayan brothers draw closer to finalizing their split, details are emerging on how they will likely divvy up their massive New York City residential real estate portfolio. Thomas and Frederick Elghanayan, who recently announced that they would leave residential giant Rockrose, will retain control of new condominiums 99 John Deco Lofts and the View in Long Island City, as well as rental buildings 2 Gold Street and 455 West 37th Street, sources familiar with the situation confirmed. As first reported by Crain’s, the two younger Elghanayans announced in April that they would leave Rockrose to form their own company, prompting speculation about how the entities would divide up their portfolio of some 20 New York City residential apartment buildings with more than 5,000 units. Thomas and Frederick will remain in the company’s 290 Park Avenue South headquarters and reportedly will soon begin operating under the name TF Cornerstone, while taking control of the company’s five commercial buildings in Washington, D.C. Their older brother, Houchang “Henry” Elghanayan, will maintain the Rockrose name and relocate to 666 Fifth Avenue. [more]

From the July issue: In 1970, Houchang “Henry” Elghanayan, then about 30 years old, founded
a real estate company along with his younger brother Thomas, and was
joined later by brother Frederick. The trio named their business the
Rockrose Corporation, after Rockrose Place, the street they grew up on
in Forest Hills, Queens. Over its 39-year history, Rockrose built itself into one of the
biggest residential success stories in New York real estate. The
company has 20 residential apartment buildings in New York City, mostly
rental buildings, which include more than 5,000 units. In addition,
Rockrose has five commercial office buildings in New York and six in
Washington, D.C.
Now, after nearly 40 years together, the three Elghanayan brothers
are about to formally split up the powerful real estate empire they
created. [more]