The Yards at Union Station is a multi-building apartment community which has brought more than 620 new homes to the River District. A once highly polluted seven-acre brownfield is now a vibrant neighborhood, which includes market-rate and workforce apartments as well as apartments affordable to very low-income families. Walsh was honored to be the chosen contractor to work on three phases of The Yards spanning 1998 to the recent completion of the final phase in 2013.

Walsh successfully completed Phase I in 1998 which consisted of 108,919 SF, five-story, 158-unit affordable housing with 66 studio, 53 one-bedroom and 39 two-bedroom units. Phase 2 was completed in 2000 and included 257,000 SF of 321 units of mixed-income housing, three buildings with rooftop gardens, pedestrian bridge, public plaza and a 90,000 SF, 208-car parking garage. The final phase of the development added 80 units of affordable wood-frame housing with six studios, 48 one-bedroom apartments and 26 two-bedroom units with 48 parking spaces. A community room, lounge area and fitness center are also built on the ground floor, and free bicycle and other storage spaces are available.

Several issues challenged the success of this project.  For example, the brownfield site required significant cleanup – more than 3,000 tons of contaminated soil was removed and 10 million gallons of water was treated. The project received a Phoenix Award for environmental cleanup in 2000. Also, the subterranean garage created the need for a permanent sub-slab de-watering system supported by three sump pumps and phased occupancy required extra precautions to protect the new residents while construction continued on the remainder of the job. The 67-ton main span of the pedestrian bridge was constructed in place and lifted with a 250-ton conventional crane over the main train tracks at Union Station.  All train traffic was halted for four hours to allow for this.

The Yards supports a core belief we all share: that our neighborhoods are healthier and stronger when they’re open to all, and that everyone deserves a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home. It also reflects our values around sustainability – developed on a former brownfield site, the new building achieved LEED-Silver certification.