The apartment complex’s overall design features tiered levels, moving gradually from seven stories at the front, stepping down to four, and then two to provide a more seamless blending into the residential neighborhood on the building’s back (or west) side. Photo: Wells. LUCY GONZALEZ PARSONS APARTMENTS CHICAGO, ILL. /// by Deborah r. huSo The Logan Square area of Chicago, Ill., like so many urban neighbor-hoods, has seen increasing gentrification, making it unaffordable for many families that have lived there for generations. That was the case until construction of the Lucy Gonzalez Parsons Apart-ments, a 100% affordable housing project, was completed in May 2022. The seven-story, 100-unit, 126,000-ft 2 housing complex is an equitable transit-oriented development due to its proximity to a bus stop and a Chicago Transit Authority subway station. The much-needed affordable housing complex replaces an underused city parking lot. Spearheaded by nonprofit, Chicago-based developer Bickerdike Development Corporation, the total–precast concrete project adds affordable housing that is architecturally compatible with both the residential and commercial neighborhoods it straddles. Equitable, Affordable Design Even though Logan Square is known for its historic residential ar-chitecture, including greystone buildings dating to the turn of the last century, Chicago-based LBBA Architects decided to forego a historic-looking apartment complex. “We wanted the building to be sustainable and contextual so it would be appropriate for the neighborhood,” says Peter Landon, principal at LBBA. The building sits on Kedzie Avenue, which runs north-south and features an array of retail properties, but on the corner of Emmett Street, it transitions to single-family buildings only. To fit in with the mix of residential and commercial spaces as well as the eclectic architectural styles in the neighborhood, LBBA proposed a struc-ture that would be seven stories tall at the front, facing the soon-to-be-redesigned Kedzie Avenue. Moving toward the back (west), the number of stories diminish-es to four and then two, providing a more seamless blending into the residential neighborhood on Emmett Street that is character-ized by smaller buildings. The apartment complex also features townhouse units, so the design team established a bend in the building to push it back from the street in front of the townhouses and gain more green space on Emmett. The design team recommended a total–precast concrete build-ing for a variety of reasons, including speed of erection, minimal construction disruption on busy urban streets, and the efficiency of having exterior walls that are both structural and architectur-al. “Precast concrete also doesn’t have sound issues because it’s dense and makes for quiet apartment [units],” Landon adds. Landon says the team also appreciated the cost efficiency of to-tal–precast concrete. “Precast is 5% to 7% more economical than a mainstream building, and it’s easy to maintain. You can build year-round, secure the construction site because it goes up so quickly, and you can enclose it really quickly. You can also get texture and scale very flexibly.” While precast concrete’s ability to withstand high winds and fire-resistance benefits residents, the material also gave the pro-ject participants another advantage. The affordability, durability,
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