Alumni Profile: Matthew Blesso

In his young career, 35-year-old Matt Blesso, principal of Blesso Properties, has already founded a successful company well known for its smallscale residential projects in choice Manhattan neighborhoods, such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village. He has also created Doma, an affiliated nonprofit that helps build sustainable housing for impoverished communities in Central America.

After working at Société Générale USA in trade finance and Latin American syndications, Blesso became a loan officer at BHF Capital Corporation where he managed institutional-grade real estate portfolios. A dedicated competitive athlete, who triumphed over chronic pain to run two New York City Marathons, Blesso knew that in order to succeed, he needed serious academic training. “I wanted a career in real estate investment or development,” says Blesso. “But I didn’t have the knowledge I needed to move forward in a meaningful way.” He decided to attend the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.

The academic preparation he received in the rigorous M.S. in Real Estate program armed him with the knowledge to get started. “It gave me some credibility,” he says. “When I was buying my first building, I was learning how to negotiate the contract in my law class. Later, when I was taking the design course, I was in the process of designing my first renovation. I ended up using many of the skills I was learning in my first project.”

In staffing his company, Blesso puts a high value on an NYU real estate education. “I think the Schack Institute program is the best in the country, and I have a preference for job applicants who have gone through it,” he says. “In fact, I have two current students working in my office and have employed two others in the past.”