When Steve Chanen joined Chanen Construction in 1991, he had already succeeded outside the family business in careers as an attorney, investment banker and owner of a 532-room hotel, among other ventures.
That entrepreneurial spirit that Chanen exhibited might well have been inherited from his father, Herman, who founded the Phoenix-based contractor in 1955 with $1,000 borrowed from a construction industry friend. The company grew to about 30 employees and was operating successfully with key projects such as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the Arizona Title Building, which was the state’s first high-rise office structure. But Chanen had suffered some health issues and asked his son to step in for about one year while he recovered.
