Joe Moinian

After almost 40 years in the business, Moinian still has grand ambitions for his family real estate firm.  

He is seeking to build one of the city’s most ambitious projects: a 56-story, nearly 2 million-square-foot tower at 3 Hudson Boulevard on Manhattan’s far west side. Yet, progress has been slow for Moinian, who bought the site from Verizon in 2005 for $54 million.

The developer founded Moinian Group nearly four decades ago and turned a small fortune in the apparel business into a development firm with over 20 million square feet of real estate. 

The firm has made more headlines for some of the litigation it’s been involved with. It lost an intense battle in 2025 over the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Midtown Manhattan, which led to foreclosure and a sale at auction. 

Another lender is seeking to foreclose on Moinian’s properties at 535-545 Fifth Avenue, claiming Moinian defaulted on a $310 million mortgage. In another lawsuit, Moinian is suing Sonder, claiming the short-term rental firm abandoned two of its properties as it headed toward bankruptcy.