In the world of New York City real estate, it was a given that Zoe Elghanayan would step into the family business.
Her father and two of his brothers started a real estate company, Rockrose, with $100,000 from their father in 1970. In 2009, the business split into two, with her father and one of her uncles heading up the new TF Cornerstone. Relatives in her generation also work in real estate, including her older brother. Following in their footsteps, she is now a principal and vice president.
Growing up, though, Ms. Elghanayan was more interested in her family’s involvement in the arts as philanthropists and collectors. “I did not have any real intention of embarking on real estate,” she said. She studied art theory at the New School and worked in art galleries and at Sotheby’s. But in 2016, she joined TF Cornerstone, realizing that she had perhaps glamorized the art world and eschewed the family business for fear of perceptions of nepotism. She said she had wanted to be successful on her own. “I didn’t really like the idea of an opportunity being given to me,” she said. “But in retrospect, all opportunities are, in some way, given to you.”
Ms. Elghanayan, 35, took it and made it her own. Art curation has become part of her job, and she is filling TF Cornerstone buildings throughout the city with design, murals, décor and sculptures that have transformed lobbies into galleries and art studios.
“I had no idea how dynamic my role would be — it looked far just above and beyond what I could have ever imagined, and I feel far more creatively inclined in this role than I ever did working in the arts,” Ms. Elghanayan said.
