Alexander Aghravi, 30

Alex Aghravi landed a job at the Moinian Group after graduating from Penn State University in 2016, and was thrown into the deep end almost immediately. 

Aghravi’s first project at the firm — one of the country’s largest privately held real estate investment companies — was to help close out the development of Sky, Moinian’s 71-story, 1,175-unit multifamily behemoth in Midtown Manhattan. Roughly 20 percent of the building was leased at the time, but Aghravi’s job was to evaluate the remaining work of every other unit, one by one, to get them across the finish line.

“I used to take an elevator from the lobby to the top floor and walk down the stairs of the entire building, go in every single unit, and update progress,” the Long Island native said. “Oh, this one is missing a vanity, the floor needs to be repaired, the fridge isn’t working — a complete punch list. So I know the ins and outs of that building.”

These days, as a senior project manager, Aghravi leads ground-up and redevelopment projects for Moinian, as well as capital improvements across the firm’s roughly 3,000-unit New York City residential portfolio. Aghravi has focused more recently on office-to-resi conversions. That includes altering about 80,000 square feet at 90 John Street into 114 residences, a project completed in January and now nearly fully leased, as well as reconfiguring 100,000 square feet at 17 Battery Place into 138 apartments, which Aghravi said is approaching its occupancy approval. He is currently working on the pre-development phase of another 230-unit conversion project. 

“We need more supply on the market, and with the city on board we’re making a major push to solve the housing crisis,” Aghravi said. “It’s really exciting to be a part of that and see these spaces transform from offices into beautiful apartments, and help New Yorkers find a home.”