Chason Affinity Companies - Kaleida Health

Kaleida Health/Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital Reuse
Developer Team Experience
Chason Affinity Companies- Developer
The Chason Affinity Companies began in 1918 as the Godfrey Realty Company. Godfrey
M. Weinstein was an owner, developer and builder in New York City. Mr. Weinstein was quite
successful even after 1929 and in 1930 did an “adaptive reuse” of a failing “boarding house” into
family apartments. With the help of James A. Farley, (Campaign Chair and Postmaster General
for F.D.R.) his development model was presented to President Roosevelt as an idea for a program
to “create jobs and revitalize the economy”. This was the beginning of the F.H.A. (Federal Housing
Administration). Godfrey was one of the programs first builders. In the early 1940’s he came to
Buffalo to build housing under the Defense Housing Program. That project, which is still owned by
the family, has just received historic status, not only because of the buildings, but also because of
his role above.
Mark Chason, has been involved since 1975 and is the third generation to run the family business.
He was joined by his son Martin Chason in 2002. In 1982 Mark became President and expanded
the business to seven growth areas of the country. In 2002 he consolidated the various companies
and divisions under the Chason Affinity umbrella. Jeffery Birtch joined the company in 2002 and
is in charge of development activities. Jeff came to Affinity with 17 years of extensive real estate
development and construction experience, as well as additional business experience. In 2005,
Mark became involved in three major projects in South America, which have been very successful.
The Chason Affinity Companies are made up of different divisions including; Development,
Finance, Construction and Management. Projects have included; many types of Multi Family
developments, Office buildings, Condominiums and Land developments. Within the residential
division are; Conventional housing, Student housing, Government aided housing and Senior
housing. A particular area of expertise is in the rehabilitation and preservation of older properties
The Chason Affinity Companies and its principals: Mark Chason, Jeffery Birtch and Martin Chason
have completed many large and medium scale real estate projects. These include over 14
thousand apartments, over 5 million square feet of office and retail space, over a thousand acres
of responsible land development and more than a thousand single family homes. The value of
these real estate projects is in excess of $2 Billion. We consider this project, which we estimate at
$65 million to be within the scope of projects that we have successfully completed.
Relevant Adaptive Reuse Experience in Western New York:
A large scale adaptive reuse / redevelopment project with an Historic component located in
Western New York, is the conversion of the Kensington Village Apartments into Collegiate Village
and The Gardens. Originally built by Godfrey M. Weinstein and Herbert S. Chason, 65 years ago,
it was the largest apartment complex in WNY. With 928 dwelling units and situated on 75 acres,
it has served as an anchor for the community. Being a first ring suburb, the neighborhood had
experienced significant decline, not uncommon in similar areas throughout the U.S. This decline
affected the property as well. The location is, however, minutes from almost every area College
and U.B. and had a large student population.
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