What TF Cornerstone does

TF Cornerstone Inc. is a privately held, vertically integrated real estate development company founded in the 1970s by Tom and Fred Elghanayan, headquartered at 387 Park Ave South in New York. The company develops, owns, and operates three core asset classes: luxury residential apartment rentals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City (with available units listed from roughly $3,300 studios to $9,385 two-bedrooms); a commercial office portfolio of approximately 2.5 million square feet concentrated in New York City and Washington D.C., anchored by Carnegie Hall Tower; and a retail portfolio of more than 1 million square feet across NYC, D.C., and Philadelphia. It maintains an affordable re-rentals program of rent-stabilized units at 40%, 130%, and 165% of AMI in cooperation with NYC HDC and HPD, plus a Building Together community-engagement and grantmaking platform offering grants up to $10,000.

The firm is vertically integrated, performing acquisitions, finance, planning, construction (via in-house General Contractor status tied to the NYC Building and Construction Trades Council), residential leasing, commercial asset management, property management, technology, legal, risk management, and accounting internally. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the TFC website with online application (apply.tfc.com), on-site leasing offices, a resident portal (MyTFC), a commercial tenant portal, and a third-party broker portal (broker.tfc.com). Pricing for market-rate units follows a 45x monthly rent income qualification standard (or 75x for guarantors), with a $20 application fee and one-month security deposit; rent-stabilized units are priced per AMI tier.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring residential, commercial office, and retail rental income across owned and managed properties, supplemented by ancillary amenity partnerships (notably Chelsea Piers Fitness at 135 East 57th Street) and, more recently, selective strategic investments such as participation in the $1.3 billion Heidrick & Struggles take-private consortium in December 2025. The customer base is segmented horizontally: individual residential renters across urban NYC neighborhoods are the primary segment, while commercial office tenants in professional/financial services and retail tenants ranging from anchor stores to boutiques serve as secondary B2B segments. Geographic markets served are New York City, the Washington D.C. metro area, and Philadelphia.

Name

TF Cornerstone

Legal name

TF Cornerstone Inc.

Website

https://tfc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

TF Cornerstone is a privately held, vertically integrated real estate development company founded by the Elghanayan family that develops, owns, and manages luxury residential apartments, 2.5M sq ft of commercial office space, and over 1M sq ft of retail across New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Residential Rental Income: TF Cornerstone generates primary revenue through residential apartment rentals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City. The company offers both market-rate luxury rentals and rent-stabilized affordable housing units through lottery programs.
2. Commercial Office Leasing: The company owns and manages 2.5 million square feet of office properties in Washington D.C. and New York City, generating rental income from commercial tenants.
3. Retail Space Leasing: TF Cornerstone maintains a retail portfolio of over 1 million square feet across high-traffic urban locations, leasing to retail tenants ranging from anchor stores to boutique operators.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

TF Cornerstone develops, owns, and manages luxury residential apartment rentals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, offering studios to three-bedroom units with amenities including rooftop pools, fitness centers, co-working spaces (HomeWork), and doorman services. The company also owns and leases approximately 2.5 million square feet of Class A commercial office space in NYC and Washington D.C., as well as a retail portfolio of over 1 million square feet spanning NYC, D.C., and Philadelphia. Revenue is generated through three recurring streams: residential rental income (market-rate and rent-stabilized), commercial office leasing, and retail space leasing.

Product overview

TF Cornerstone (TFC) is a privately held, vertically integrated real estate development company with 50+ years of experience developing and managing residential, commercial office, and retail properties. The company's product portfolio consists of three core offerings: (1) Luxury Residential Apartment Rentals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City featuring amenities such as rooftop pools, fitness centers, HomeWork co-working spaces, and doorman services; (2) Office Properties comprising approximately 2.5 million square feet in New York City and Washington D.C., anchored by Carnegie Hall Tower; and (3) Retail Portfolio of over 1 million square feet spanning NYC, D.C., and Philadelphia. Supporting offerings include the Affordable Re-Rentals Program for income-restricted units and the Building Together community engagement platform. Digital services for residents and brokers include the MyTFC resident portal and Broker Portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TFC Residential (Luxury Apartment Rentals) Luxury residential apartment rentals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, offering studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units with amenities including rooftop pools, fitness centers, co-working spaces (HomeWork), and doorman services for professionals and families.
• TFC Office Properties Commercial office portfolio spanning approximately 2.5 million square feet across New York City and Washington D.C., including landmark properties such as Carnegie Hall Tower designed by César Pelli, for business tenants in financial services, professional services, and creative industries.
• TFC Retail Portfolio Retail space portfolio of over 1 million square feet throughout New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia, ranging from 30,000 sq. ft. anchor stores to 10,000 sq. ft. gourmet markets to small boutiques, with built-in customer bases from residential and office tenants above.
• Affordable Re-Rentals Program Rent-stabilized apartment re-rental program operating in cooperation with NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), offering income-restricted units at 40%, 130%, and 165% of Area Median Income (AMI) at properties including 5203 Center Blvd, 595 Dean St, 5241 Center Blvd, 455 W 37th St, and 505 W 37th St.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Alterra Property GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 April 2026TF Cornerstone and Alterra Property Group formed a joint venture to redevelop the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia into 600 loft-style apartments. The project ranks seventh nationally for office-to-apartment conversions with 2,697 apartments in the Philadelphia metro pipeline.
• Chelsea Piers FitnesscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 17 November 2025Chelsea Piers Fitness signed a long-term lease with TF Cornerstone for a 47,000-square-foot club at 135 East 57th Street, part of TF Cornerstone's office-to-residential conversion project. Chelsea Piers operates as an amenity partner providing fitness services to TFC residents.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Vornado Realty Trust: NYC-concentrated REIT with major office and retail properties in Manhattan. Comparable to TFC's commercial real estate holdings in NYC, including its 1+ million sq ft retail portfolio and exposure to prime Manhattan locations.
• SL Green Realty Corp. Largest NYC-focused office landlord with a significant Manhattan office portfolio. Comparable to TF Cornerstone's 2.5 million sq ft office segment and exposure to NYC office market dynamics, though SL Green is a public REIT without a residential development platform.
• The Related Companies: Major privately held, vertically integrated NYC real estate developer with a similar mix of luxury residential rentals, mixed-use developments, and affordable housing programs. Closely comparable to TF Cornerstone in scale, NYC focus, and integrated development-through-management model.
• Durst Organization: Privately held, family-controlled NYC real estate developer and owner of office, residential, and retail properties, including major Manhattan commercial holdings. Directly comparable to TF Cornerstone in NYC geographic focus, multi-generational ownership structure, and vertical integration.
• Hines: Privately held, vertically integrated global real estate developer with mixed-use, office, and residential projects across major U.S. markets. Comparable to TFC's vertically integrated developer-owner-operator model, though Hines operates at much greater scale and geographic breadth.

Broad incumbents

• Forest City Realty Trust: Now part of Brookfield, Forest City was a mixed-use real estate developer with significant NYC and Northeast residential and commercial assets. Comparable to TFC's mixed-use development strategy and Northeast geographic footprint, particularly for office-to-residential conversion expertise.
• AvalonBay Communities: Public multifamily residential REIT with luxury apartment communities across major U.S. metropolitan markets. Comparable to TFC's luxury residential rental product and amenities strategy, though AvalonBay is a national, publicly traded operator without commercial real estate.
• Brookfield Property Partners: One of the world's largest commercial real estate operators with significant NYC office and retail assets. Comparable to TFC's office and retail leasing operations at scale, though Brookfield is a global platform with much broader geographic and asset-class diversification.
• Boston Properties: Public REIT focused on Class A office properties in major U.S. markets including NYC. Comparable to TFC's 2.5 million sq ft NYC/DC office portfolio, though Boston Properties is publicly traded and exclusively focused on office.
• Equity Residential: Large public multifamily REIT focused on urban and high-density apartment rentals, with significant NYC presence. Comparable to TFC's luxury urban residential rental segment, though Equity Residential is publicly traded and geographically diversified.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tfcornerstone
• Facebookfacebook.com/tfcrealestate
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tf-cornerstone

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TF Cornerstone