The average sales price of a downtown or North Side home in the first few months of 2008 was more than $500,000, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. Even on the city’s Northwest Side, hardly the seat of new residential construction, homes were selling at an average price of $315,000 earlier this year.

Those kinds of numbers at first can seem disheartening to buyers whose budgets can’t accommodate a half-million-dollar mortgage. What some buyers fail to realize (or renters who have never considered the prospect of purchasing a home, for that matter) is that the Chicago market is filled with new-construction and rehabilitated condominiums priced at or below $250,000.

In the July issue of New Homes, I use the New Home Notebook to guide me through just a few of Chicago's starter-home options.

Young professionals drawn to Michigan Avenue’s stores and massive lakeside parks can find a place to live in downtown Chicago, although the few starter-priced condos found inside the Loop itself may be better suited for pieds-a-terre than full-time homes.

American Invsco’s conversion at 200 N Dearborn St has studio condominiums priced in the $230s, but each of those units has less than 600 square feet of living space. The studios may not be roomy compared with similarly priced condos outside the Loop, but residents do have the benefit of living around the corner from Chicago’s many theaters and just blocks from Millennium Park and the Michigan Avenue shopping district. Living in a high-rise has its benefits, too: 200 North Dearborn’s on-site amenities include a fitness center, indoor swimming pool, sun deck, party room, laundry facilities and White Hen convenience store.

For larger homes, buyers should look in two of downtown’s most popular residential neighborhoods: The South Loop and the West Loop. In those areas, buyers can find one-bedroom, new-construction condominiums in the high $100s and low to mid-$200s at developments such as Vetro at 611 S Wells St, Astoria Tower at 8 E Ninth St, Glashaus at 1327 S Wabash Ave, and Terrazio at 1935 S Wabash Ave. All of those homes have features common to most new condominiums, such as hardwood floors, granite kitchen countertops, stainless-steel appliances, and wiring for Internet and surround sound, as well as access to building amenities like fitness rooms and rooftop decks.

Read the entire article here.

The inaugural Pullman – Roseland Spring Parade of Homes began yesterday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at North Pullman Place, a renovated six-flat condo at 10461 S Corliss Ave.

North Pullman Place features one-bedroom lofts and two-bedroom condos priced in the $130s. In the video, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) and Commissioner of Housing Ellen Sahli provide some background on the building's transformation from a drug and gang outpost to a community asset.

Eight homes are available for viewing today, Sunday, May 4, from noon until 4 p.m., on the Parade of Homes.

We'll have more video from Pullman and Roseland as the week progresses. In the meantime, you can see some of our Pullman videos at YouTube

I spent the morning in Pullman and Roseland talking to local residents and visiting several of the homes on the inaugural Pullman – Roseland Spring Parade of Homes.

My first stop was at North Pullman Place, 10461 S Corliss Ave, where six renovated one- and two-bedroom condo and loft units are priced in the $130s. According to Joyce Chapman, CEO of Pullman Community Development Corporation, the building had previously been "a drug and gang candy store." The building's opening marks, according to Reverend Jackson of Christ Community Baptist Church, "a great day for Pullman."

The event continues tomorrow, so you still have time to go and see historic Pullman and the eight participating homes, which range from condos from the $130s to newly-built 2-flats for $230,000.

We'll have more video from Pullman and Roseland as the week progresses. In the meantime, you can see some of our previous Pullman videos at YouTube

Willard Court may be "architecturally bankrupt," in the words of one Yo reader, but it still offers a few interesting features here and there - like this wall safe built into each home (not the studios, though).

The development (949 N Willard Ct in River West) is sandwiched between the Kennedy Expressway and some railroad tracks, so it's not scoring points for the big 'L'. And the building's exterior is a tad, well, drab. In fact, the one thing Willard Court does have is photos. Of everything. Including the wall safe - and the basement storage (cage?) locker.

The project's been built for a couple years now, but at least four units are still available ($150s to $270s). Prices include deeded surface parking, and the location might qualify some buyers for the city's TaxSmart Mortgage Credit Certificate.

FitzGerald Associates Architects recently received a 2008 Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism for its work on the Oakwood Shores development in Bronzeville.

The CNU, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, hands out 15 Charter Awards annually to firms that "set the gold standard for urban design and development and serve as powerful examples for future development," according to the group's Web site.

Granite Partners for Oakwood Boulevard LLC is building more than 3,000 homes on land owned by the Chicago Housing Authority, including the former sites of the Madden Park, Ida B. Wells and Darrow Homes. The project includes both rental and for-sale units in six- and nine-flat buildings, townhouses and single-family homes.

Mid-rise condos at Oakwood Shores start in the $170s, townhouses start in the $370s, and single-family homes start in the $690s.

Construction is progressing at Roosevelt Square, Related Midwest and Quest Development Group's massive, multi-phase residential project in University Village. Most of the buildings going up along Roosevelt Avenue right now are the development's rental units (like the one shown above), but the next round of townhouse and condo construction should begin this summer, says sales manager Mike Kelly.

Four of the 233 townhouses built during Roosevelt Square's first phase are still on the market and available for delivery, Kelly says. All four are "Arlington" models, which are mysteriously absent from Roosevelt Square's online floor plans. The homes have 2,500 to 2,900 square feet and range in price from the $580s to $690s.

Most of Roosevelt Square's Phase II townhouses are still for sale and will be ready for delivery starting in the spring of 2009. The residences are a mix of affordable-housing units and market-rate condos and townhouses priced from the $310s on up.

Like our recent Lennar post, this applies mainly to those of you looking for homes in the 'burbs. But hey, Oswego's not a bad little town, especially if you dig drag racing.

Pulte Homes is using the upcoming Leap Day as an excuse to offer deals and discounts on its inventory. Buyers who sign contracts between Feb. 28 and March 2 will have up to $6,500 of their closing costs waived and will not have to make payments for four months. Pulte is also offering a coupon for an additional $500 off through its Web site.

Of course, the only way buyers can take advantage of this deal is to participate in Pulte's rewards program and financing through the developer's mortgage company.

Pulte currently has homes for sale in Carpentersville, Elgin, Lake Zurich, Lindenhurst, Lockport, Oswego, Yorkville and Zion. Layouts range from two to four bedrooms and one to three baths, with prices from the $150s to the $420s.

Of all the groups threatened by gentrification and soaring mortage payments, senior citizens might be the most at-risk. This singular demographic is the focus of a new feature article from the always-impressive Chicago Reporter.

The mag looked closely at the statistics and found that the city lost about 50,000 seniors from 1990 to 2006; at the same time, senior populations in suburban Cook County swelled by about 11 percent.

Rapid condo development occurred in seven of the 10 community areas where the highest percentages of seniors moved between 2000 and 2007.

The statistics are troubling, says Lori Clark, executive director of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, a grassroots nonprofit that addresses quality of life issues for senior citizens.

“Seniors add value to the communities. They are mentors to young children. They’re the most active volunteers in a community. They’re your good neighbors, your quiet neighbors, the people who care about keeping the community in good condition,” Clark said. “The people who helped build the city of Chicago shouldn’t be thrown away.”

Chicago’s claim to the 2016 Summer Olympics is anything but a lock. The city faces stiff competition from six Asian, European and South American countries, and Mayor Daley and the U.S. Olympic Committee still have plenty of hurdles to clear before they can declare victory in their bid.

But if the City of Broad Shoulders does succeed in bringing the Summer Games to the shores of Lake Michigan, one thing is certain: The South Side will see a surge of construction the likes of which have not been seen since the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

At the center of this titanic undertaking will stand the Olympic Village, a $1 billion mixed-use development located on 105 acres of lakefront property immediately south of McCormick Place, in Chicago's Near South Side.

In an official application (PDF) submitted to the International Olympic Committee on Jan. 15, the USOC described the village as a collection of “new, accessible residential buildings that can host a minimum of 16,000 athletes, coaches and team officials in a peaceful courtyard setting.” A slew of amenities including a promenade of shops, clubs, movie theaters and concert stages will accompany the residences, the application states.

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The Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards ceremony that was held last Thursday to honor a year's worth of forward-thinking urban development. Crain's has a brief writeup on the winners; read on to learn more about the winning projects, organizations and people.

Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Strategy of the Year: Lawndale Christian Development Corporation

Richard Driehaus Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project: The Center on Halsted

Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project: Rancho Verde (part of the larger Chicago GreenWorks eco-industrial park)

Special Recognition Award: St. Leo’s Campus for Veterans

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design

First place: Solid Ground housing facility
Second place: Pacific Garden Mission
Third place: Margot and Harold Schiff Residences (formerly known as the Near North Apartments)

Friend of the Neighborhoods Award: Richard H. Driehaus

Norman Bobins Leadership Award: Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation