By Joshua Burd
The New Jersey Institute of Technology has honored Paul V. Profeta, a longtime real estate investor and publisher of Real Estate NJ, with its Special Friend to the University award as part of its annual celebration and fundraising gala.
The Newark university presented the award on Nov. 10 at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, recognizing Profeta’s five decades in commercial real estate, his philanthropy and his commitment to education, including the May 2021 donation that marked the single-largest gift in NJIT history. That established and endowed the Profeta Real Estate Technology, Design and Innovation Center and the Profeta Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which supports both NJIT students and members of the Newark community interested in becoming future entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders.
“Paul, for all you do for NJIT, our students and our community, it is my pleasure to present you with the Special Friend to the University award,” said Michael Wall, the school’s associate vice president for development and alumni relations.
Paul, one of two sons born to immigrant parents in Maplewood, earned a bachelor’s from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1976, he launched Paul V. Profeta & Associates Inc., a national real estate investment company now based in Roseland.
In accepting the award, Profeta told the audience that his parents were exceptionally philanthropic and devoted much of their time and finances to helping others. They wanted their two boys to follow suit as they grew older and, even though Profeta sincerely promised he would, he spent the first 63 years of his life ignoring his promise to his parents, he said.
That changed on Oct. 5, 2007, when he was involved in a motorcycle accident in Utica, New York. He recalls waking up on the highway as he was being strapped to a spinal board and as his head was being taped down, he said, noting that the EMS attendants told him that they suspected spinal injuries and possible paralysis.
Those words shot through Profeta’s head like a bullet, he said, realizing that he had not kept his promise to his parents and that his ability to do so might now be significantly curtailed. In the ambulance and in the hospital, he was thinking of how he could reverse that situation.
Once he realized he was not going to be paralyzed and was released from the hospital, he went straight to his lawyer’s office and started the Profeta Urban Investment Foundation. The organization — which loans startup minority businesses in Newark the funds to launch their endeavor at no interest and no liability, plus offers extensive mentoring and advice before launch, during launch and after launch — has since been involved in launching 15 minority businesses and creating more than 450 jobs.
Profeta explained that he has been involved in a host of real estate deals that have increased his net worth and said that, although that feeling is exhilarating, it only lasts a day or two before you are thinking of the next deal and how much more you could be worth.
“In a certain sense it is addictive and an insatiable desire,” he said. “On the other hand, if you reach out and touch someone, and help improve their life, it is a feeling like no other and it lasts forever. It resonates with your soul.”
Profeta added that, when you can go to sleep knowing you have made the world a little better place that day, you sleep soundly and feel like you have done what you were put on this Earth to do. He then related a specific experience in which he was mentoring a Rutgers University real estate student when he found out that the man had been convicted for murder earlier in his life. The student was sure he was never going to find a job because he was skeptical that anyone would ever hire a murderer and that his wife and kids would suffer because of his unemployment, Profeta said, as it seemed like the only alternative was to go back to a life of crime.
Profeta committed to finding him a job and called one developer after another that he knew personally, he said. He was successful in that regard, and the former Rutgers student has been at work for over three years and has been promoted four times.
The owner of the company calls Profeta every three or four months to thank him for the recommendation, he said, adding that he considers that one of his greatest accomplishments in helping others.
