The EKN family of companies began in 1990, when Ebbie Khan Nakhjavani founded EKN Engineering as a civil engineering firm with a comprehensive range of planning, entitlement, and development advisory services for commercial real estate projects. While running EKN Engineering in its earlier years, Ebbie parlayed his expertise into real estate development and founded Terrafirma Development in 1995 with a focus on retail, multifamily, and office projects. His path then led him to Las Vegas in 2001, when he co-founded York Capital and partnered in Transit Real Estate Development (TRED), which held exclusive rights to develop all real estate related to the Las Vegas Monorail and XpressWest—the proposed high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Southern California. Closely collaborating with Caesars Entertainment and other major stakeholders in Las Vegas, Ebbie led York Capital in association with TRED to advance many development and transportation projects. From the origins of Terrafirma Development, Ebbie then founded EKN Development in 2012, specializing in hospitality and mixed-use projects. Today, EKN's companies bridge the worlds of engineering and real estate development and have grown to employ nearly 200 highly skilled professionals.