Wolf Point East Begins Construction

Last week, construction began on the 60-story, 698-unit Wolf Point East residential development located along the Chicago River. For Wolf Point East, Epstein is providing civil engineering services for this high-rise development which will also include a landscaped plaza, a river walk, six levels of below grade parking and one level of above grade retail. The entrances and exits to Wolf Point East will be off of Wolf Point Plaza Drive and North Orleans Street.

Having performed the civil engineering services for the recently completed Wolf Point West and the Wolf Point North Garage project, including the master planning of utilities for the entire Wolf Point development, Epstein was able to easily coordinate the utility main lines and ducts for sanitary, water, electric, gas, and telephone that were designed to include the demand from the Wolf Point East project.

Epstein worked with the City of Chicago to establish a stormwater management program consistent with the Wolf Point master plan that included storm water runoff from the roof and upper plaza areas discharging directly into the Chicago River. The river walk stormwater will be collected, detained and filtered through a hydrodynamic separator prior to entering the Chicago River. Stormwater outfalls have been designed to comply with the requirements of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Statewide Permit program as well as the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District requirements for utility connections to the river.

The tie-in of the East Towers upper plaza to both Wolf Point Plaza Drive and North Orleans Street required Epstein to design the removal of the existing parapet walls as well as replacement of existing post tensioned cables within Wolf Point Plaza Drive to facilitate removal of light pole bases. Also, handicap ramps at Wolf Point Plaza Drive and North Orleans Street are being modified by Epstein to meet the current City of Chicago ADA standards. And within Orleans Street, Epstein designed a new sidewalk as well as the relocation of light poles and the traffic signal controller.

Lastly, the development team for Wolf Point East includes Hines, the Joseph P. Kennedy Family, and the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust, advised by PNC Realty Investors. The designer is Pelli Clarke Pelli and construction is scheduled to be completed in 2020.