Westerly (740 N. Aberdeen St.)

Westerly luxury apartments offer a unique way of urban living in Chicago. Located on Milwaukee Avenue in the River West neighborhood, residents have easy access to other Chicago neighborhoods, the Kennedy Expressway, and CTA Blue Line. This Green Building Initiative certified apartment complex includes 11-stories, 188 new homes with a range of floor plans, and 80 parking spots. As a finishing touch, an artist by the name of Sentrock painted a colorful mural on an outside wall of the complex.

Eriksson Engineering Associates, Ltd. (EEA) coordinated with the design team to integrate the detention vault into the first-floor plan while maximizing the space and still providing a safe conveyance for stormwater runoff from the project. EEA worked to maximize open space inside and outside the building by coordinating with the structural team to develop a unique cast-in-place detention vault system underneath the parking garage ramp. EEA reviewed various products to conceal the drainage structures in the at-grade amenity area, resulting in concealed drainage structures that blend with the pavers in this area.

EEA coordinated the utility service locations with the design team and City of Chicago permitting officials. In particular, the water service proved to be a challenge due to limitations with the existing water infrastructure in the adjacent streets. EEA worked with the city and design team to locate the water service in a location that provided the service and avoided costly infrastructure upgrades. EEA coordinated extensively with CDOT regarding restoration in a public way to come to an agreement that would limit the scope required by the design team while still improving the existing conditions adjacent to the site following CDOT requirements.

This project received the 2021 CISCO Project of the Year Award in the Residential Category.