Makeover creates luxury student housing in Cheektowaga
Developer transforms apartment complex to gated community
Mark Chason remembers clearly the moment that inspired his vision for the $100 million redevelopment of a World War II-era apartment complex in Cheektowaga..
“Wouldn’t it be great to have a college commons here?” the president of Chason Affinity Cos. recalled thinking three years ago as he strolled through a grassy area at the former Kensington Village, which was built by Chason’s father and grandfather.
That’s when he hit on the idea of creating a regional student housing complex called Collegiate Village — a gated community watched over by 47 security cameras and brimming with luxury amenities such as a movie theater with cushy leather chairs and drink holders, a computer lab and video gaming room, a pool, basketball court, workout room and tanning beds.
Today, 140 beds in Collegiate Village are occupied. More than 600 will be ready by January, and within three years, there will be room for 1,300 students.
The complex of stylishly furnished one-, two-, three-and four-bedroom apartments is unofficially marketed as being six minutes to six local colleges.
“Well,” Chason acknowledged with a grin, “one of them is a little farther away than that.”
Tuesday, there were mutual pats on the back all around, as local dignitaries, including Cheektowaga Supervisor Mary F. Holtz and Villa Maria College President Sister Marcella Marie Garus, gathered to mark and admire the completion of the initial phase of Chason’s dream to reinvent his family’s long-held property.
Part of the celebration involved showing off The Lodge, Collegiate Village’s community center, which features a showy stone fireplace and Adirondack-inspired furnishings worthy of a ski lodge.
Buffalo Economic Development Commissioner Brian Reilly praised Collegiate Village as an innovative example of redevelopment the Buffalo area should be replicating with its older structures.
Villa Maria College, an early partner and cheerleader for Chason’s project, has long believed it will serve as a recruitment tool for the school, which previously did not have a housing option for its students.
Thirty Villa students now live in Collegiate Village, and Sister Marcella said another 12 prospects who toured the campus for a recent open house expressed strong interest in living there.
Collegiate Village encountered opposition at the outset.
The developer was ordered to pay $57,000 in compensation and set aside 25 units for low-income tenants with rent subsidies as part of a settlement of a federal housing discrimination complaint. The complaint was lodged by Housing Opportunities Made Equal on behalf of former tenants of the apartment complex who charged that developers were excluding them from the gated community because of race and family status.
The developer also agreed to settle similar discrimination charges by reserving 126 units for tenants who qualify for affordable housing.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments