[1][2] Starting at an early age, he spent summers working on job sites with his father, a builder and contractor, which sparked his love of real estate and development.

[1] While in school, Blau teamed up with a local contractor to buy single-family homes in Ann Arbor and subdivide them into student apartments.

By that time, the market had crashed, leading Blau to attend the MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1992, where he earned a Master in Business Administration in 1992.

[5] Blau closed a deal to develop the Coliseum site at Columbus Circle by convincing Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons to sign on as an anchor tenant.

[7] In 2023, Blau signed a statement from the Anti-Defamation League titled "Urge the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Anti-Israel & Anti-Zionist Student Groups".

The letter accuses Students for Justice in Palestine of "glorifying Hamas' atrocities" and declares Zionism to be "a fundamental component of Jewish identity".