Moujan Vahdat

Moujan Vahdat
Born	October 10, 1954 Tehran, Iran
🏳️ Nationality	Iranian
💼 Occupation	International real estate investor & developer, founder, and CEO of Elmo Realty Co.
Known for	Affordable housing projects in New York and owns four homeless shelters in Manhattan and the Bronx

Moujan Vahdat (born October 10, 1954) is an entrepreneur, real estate professional, and owner. He is also the founder and president of Elmo Realty Co. Inc. Currently, he is the director of Bradic S.A., a Paraguayan real estate company, and director of Bradic Emprendimentos Imobiliarios Ltd., a Brazilian real estate company. Vahdat is a midsize landlord and building owner in New York City.

Early Life and education

Vahdat was born on October 10, 1954, in Tehran, Iran, and moved to the United States in 1966. He attended different universities where he was enrolled in a Business Administration degree program at York College, City University of New York (CUNY) from 1973 to 1975 but did not graduate.

Career

Early works

Vahdat was associated with many different jobs before entering the real estate business. His first jobs included mopping floors and washing dishes in Elmhurst, Queens, and Hampton Street. He was focused on developing technologies. In 1985, Vahdat founded I.T.C. Telecommunications, a technology-based platform providing telecom services to firms and individual clients. The company was successful and after gathering profits, the company decided to shut down. The profits were used by Vahdat to enter the real estate business.

Real Estate

Vahdat was interested in learning real estate from a young age. He used his experience and knowledge of real estate and founded Elmo Realty Co. Inc. in the mid-1980s. Elmo Realty Co. Inc. is a real estate firm specializing in multi-family development, and affordable and low-income housing projects across New York City. The firm currently owns and manages a dozen low-income housing projects across the city. In total, the company has traded over 75 building projects including four homeless shelters located in Manhattan, including Pelham Pkwy South, and the Bronx that provided accommodations for over 1,000 people in New York.

Career highlights

Vahdat’s affordable and notable completed housing projects include the following:

• ·1793 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10031
• 339 East 108th Street, New York, NY 10029 (Corner of 108th Street & 1st Avenue)
• 2109 1st Ave (unclear words)
• 32 West 123rd Street, New York, NY 10027
• 375 Pleasant Avenue, New York, NY 10035
• 3476 Brady NYC
• 2375 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, New York, NY 10030
• 1870 Pelham Pkwy South, The Bronx, NY 10461
• "Our Lady of Mercy Hospital" a 60,000 sq. ft. space was renovated and converted to a total of 77 apartments and 5,000 sq. ft. into community facility space for services and case management, housing more than 600 people. Vahdat was the developer of the project.

Other endeavors

Vahdat was named among the board of directors of Saint Mary’s Hospital in December 2004 which he served for 3 years. He was named Honorary Consul of Brazil in Boca Raton in May 2012. He is the director of Bradic S.A., a Paraguayan real estate company, and Bradic Emprendimentos Imobiliarios Ltd., a Brazilian real estate company.

Controversy

Vahdat was subject to an N.Y.S. Attorney General investigation for the investigation of purchasing seven churches in New York. Vahdat and two of the church leaders reached settlements with the state and the investigation closed in February 2021 without penalty or fine.

Philanthropy

In December of 2022, Vahdat announced the first Race Unity Awards in an annual awards competition that acknowledged the work of NYC students at their schools and communities to promote racial equality. In the year 2022, he received over 100 essays from students at schools across all five boroughs. Lehman College’s Matthew Garaicoa was the winner and was awarded a plaque and a $2,500 check for his efforts.

Awards & recognition

• Served as Consul at the Brazilian Consulate in Boca Raton and as Director at St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic, New Jersey.
• Business Director of Luxus magazine in New York, which is a Brazilian publication aimed at the demanding AAA audience, and the official publication of the International Chamber of the Luxury Market in Brazil.
• Completed the 30-year milestone of his corporate mandate in November 2022 to alleviate the homeless crisis in New York City.
• Implemented the first annual awards competition known as the Race Unity Awards in December 2022 to eliminate racial discrimination.

Personal life

Vahdat was born to Rouhollah and Parvin Vahdat. He married Elham Vahdat and the couple has two children, Saba Vahdat

and Shawn Vahdat. He is a member of the Baha'i faith with its roots in Persia.

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