87th and Western Mixed Use

Developed by Innovative Housing Opportunities, Inc. (IHO) and EAH, Inc., and designed in partnership with the neighborhood, the 87th and Western project will transform a set of currently vacant and underutilized properties into a vibrant, pedestrian-focused main street location that recalls the rich urban heritage that once thrived here. This multi-building, mixed-population, and mixed-use community, with supportive housing, creates 160 new homes with easy access to shared courtyards and amenities.

Coffman is providing structural and civil engineering for the project, which includes a below-grade parking system with 117 parking stalls and back-of-house spaces. The concrete lid over the parking will step and slope to make up the structural platforms and the green landscaped courtyards. Above this parking garage, nine different mixed-use buildings will emerge. These structures will use traditional wood framing for the floors and walls and wood shearwalls to resist earthquake forces. The exterior circulation system will make use of structural steel and include stairs and several elegant bridges. In all, the project includes nine buildings that vary from 25 ft to 60 ft in height and includes about 140,000 sf of new construction.

The site stretches an entire city block along Western Avenue, between 87th and 88th Streets. The design is generative of three key organizational drivers: an active retail-focused frontage at Western Avenue; a collection of residential stoops that act as a transition to the single-family neighborhood that borders to the north; and the alley which is reimagined as a “paseo” enabling through block connection and a center for community gathering.

Rendering courtesy of Innovative Housing Opportunites, Inc. (IHO)