• Posted: September 25, 2019
• Community Building

When Lurie Children’s, formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital, left its post after 75 years in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, developers rushed to the northside site with ideas on how to transform the six-acre parcel of land. The problem wasn’t what to build or even the logistics of getting a building built on the former hospital’s land, it was how to keep the existing character of yesterday intact while building something for today.

“Obviously, the hospital that had been there for 75 years was a real staple to the area and the community was split between excitement in terms of a new development and keeping it status quo,” said Brian Barry, Project Manager at W.E. O’Neil Construction. “Overall, now that the project is behind us, I think residents are pleased with the finished product.”

Barry works for W.E. O’Neil Construction and led a 15-person team on the ground at Lincoln Common over the course of the 23-month construction project to ensure it was completed on time and seamlessly blended into the established northside neighborhood.

To do this, W.E. O’Neil had to knock down certain buildings to make room for the two, 20-story residential towers that house 538 apartment units, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and 60,000 square feet of office space. But the developer, Hines/McCaffery, also looked at ways to restore some existing structures.

“We restored the existing boiler house and laundry room on the east side of Lincoln Street,” Barry explained. “That kept some of the existing character of the buildings in the area which was important to the neighborhood.”

Working within an established neighborhood was a unique challenge for W.E. O’Neil during this project. While working in congested areas of the city is not new to the company, working on both sides of a city street at once proved to be a different challenge. Ownership was so mindful of minimizing the impact to the neighborhood moving forward that they installed a significant underground loading dock to help with future deliveries and residential move-ins.

Ensuring the neighborhood was up to date on the project was critical to W.E. O’Neil’s success throughout. There were monthly meetings and constant communication with the community to ensure the roughly 50 subcontractors working on the project didn’t negatively impact the quality of life of the neighborhood’s residents.

“Hospital concrete was recycled onsite which helped the community by minimizing the truck traffic,” Barry noted. “The yearlong demolition process was recycled on site.”

Powering Chicago members Huen Electric and REX Electric worked on the project. Huen was responsible for the main campus of the project and REX oversaw the offices to keep things running smoothly.

“The Lincoln Common project highlighted all of Huen’s capabilities and gave O’Neil one point of contact for the electrical systems,” said Michael Koyfman, Senior Project Manager for Huen Electric. “Not only did we complete the electrical contract, we also provided the voice data, fire alarm, and security cameras. We were happy to have been part of the O’Neil team in completing this new, modern development in Lincoln Park.”

“Working with the unions is what we do,” Barry said. “It was nothing new on this project and we know and trust we are going to get the best quality of work and that’s what we got again. We had a great experience with the unions throughout the three years of the project.”

After two years of construction and years of planning, Lincoln Park residents have new shopping options while Chicagoans now have the option to secure modern living in an established Chicago neighborhood.