Arlo Chicago

Arlo Chicago (formerly Hotel Julian), an award-winning hotel on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, is a bright spot where the once-vacant Atlantic Bank building had fallen into disrepair. The project involved a full gut renovation of the building, as well as a six-level vertical expansion on top of the existing structure.

With no operating elevator and no place to stage a traditional tower crane at street level, W.E. O’Neil devised a creative plan to hoist a spider crane to the roof level, which was then used with a pulley system to raise the structural steel needed for the vertical addition. The project also involved extensive repairs to the 100+ year old structure.

Overall, the development is 121,600 SF and encompasses 218 hotel rooms across 17 floors. High-end features are present throughout the guest rooms, lobby, and first floor restaurant. Together with developer Oxford Capital and a team of architects and engineers, W.E. O’Neil brought the building back to life, repositioning it into what is now one of Chicago’s most desirable boutique hotels.