| Manocherian Brothers | |
| Type: | Privately held company |
| Area Served: | New York City |
Manocherian Brothers and its sister company, Pan Am Equities, are companies owned by the Manocherian family that invest in real estate, primarily multifamily properties on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.[1]
Buildings owned by the family include One Astor Place, 210 Fifth Avenue, 201 East 12th Street, Empire House (located at 200 East 71st Street), New York Tower at East 39th Street, the Caroline at 60 West 23rd Street, and New York Plaza at 2 Water Street. The family also owned the New York Health & Racquet Club, which permanently closed in 2020. The family has also owned The Langham.[2]
After purchasing the building now called “New York Plaza at 2 Water Street” in 1978, the building was identified as a potential landmark building by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Known as The Army Building, it had previously been owned by The US Department of the Army and offered a wide range of vital US Army services to troops since 1887.[3] It was also the site of the first-ever US gay rights protest.[4]
The Landmarks Committee scheduled a hearing in 1983 to begin the process for possible designation as a historic building. However, the Manocherian Brothers ordered their construction crews to proceed with demolishing the building - even though they did not have work permits. Because so much damage was done to the Army Building, the Landmarks Preservation Committee was not able to proceed with their cause and unrecoverable US history was lost.[5]
The Manocherian Brothers have also been involved in multiple lawsuits regarding their disagreements with long-standing New York City rent stabilization laws. In one, they attempted to evict hospital workers from employee housing apartments that they had leased to Lenox Hill Hospital, in order to increase rents. They lost.[6]
They were successfully sued in 2021 as it was found that New York Health and Racquet Clubs used discriminatory employee practices based on age, gender, and race under Title VII.
The company was founded by brothers Amir, Eskandar, and Fraydun Manocherian, who came from a well‐to‐do Iranian family and immigrated to the United States in the 1930s.[1] [7]
In 2012, a subsidiary of the company acquired the Bond Building in Washington, D.C. for $22 million.[8]