According to our New Home Notebook, the North Side has fewer projects with homes priced at or below $250,000 than any other area in town (those other areas being the Loop / downtown and the Far North, Northwest, West / Southwest and South sides).

Many of the North Side's starter homes are in large conversions - think back to Kroupa Development's 252-unit Sheridan Tower and 143-unit 3033 North Sheridan, both in Lakeview East.

One conversion we haven't written about is Polo Tower, a 189-unit rehab at 4180 N Marine Dr in Uptown. The project still has 83 one-bedroom / one-bath condominiums available, all priced from the $160s to the $220s, according to @properties agent Ginger Bonneau.

Units have been reconfigured from their original apartment designs in order to add more closet space, Bonneau says. Every home has been finished with granite breakfast bars, stainless-steel appliances, shaker-style cabinets, marble bathroom vanities, and cast-iron bathtubs.

Building amenities include a rooftop deck, a new laundry area (units do not have washer / dryer hookups), a dry cleaner, on-site management and two full-time building engineers. Rental parking is available for $150 to $200 per month.

Marine and Lake Shore drives are immediately east of the building, meaning that residents on the eastern side of the Polo Tower should have unobstructed views of Lake Michigan and Montrose Harbor. Bonneau says the northern views are just as impressive, and south-facing units get "at least a slice of the lake, plus great sunlight."

It isn't much to look at from the street, but Kevin Dembinsky from Century 21 Sussex and Reilly assures me that this property at 2701 W Chicago Ave is one of the most exciting developments in the area.

Just like 837 North Washtenaw, this six-unit condo building is located across the street from the recently-opened NXXT Restaurant & Bar, a restaurant that features a $12 burger and is widely recognized as a harbinger of gentrification in the area (if you trust what they write on Centerstage, that is).

The elevator building features three two-bedroom / two-baths and three three-bedroom / two-baths that range in size from 1,300 to 1,700 square feet. Dembinsky is most excited about unit 2N, which has access to the roof above the retail space on Chicago Avenue.

"It's big enough to play basketball up there," he says.

I hope to go visit and get some more information about this development next week. In the meantime, have a look at this virtual tour.

This brick building at 837 N Washtenaw Ave was “one of the most dilapidated places on the street” up until last year, says @properties agent Jill Halpern.

That was before Consortian Development redesigned the building’s “unworkable” apartments into 12 one- and two-bedroom condominiums, replaced 70 percent of the building’s brick, and installed energy saving windows and balcony doors.

Consortian’s efforts have paid off, at least from a public-relations standpoint. The Humboldt Park conversion recently received a Good Neighbor honorable mention from the Chicago Association of Realtors, Halpern says.

Now the developers are hoping that recognition translates into sales. Ten condos are still available: four two-bedroom / one-bath homes starting in the $260s, and six one-bedroom / one-baths starting in the $230s.

Every two-bedroom has more than 1,000 square feet, not counting the outdoor balconies, Halpern says. One-bedrooms have approximately 850 square feet of interior space. Both layouts have private balconies.

The homes have exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, 42-inch cabinets, stainless-steel appliances, marble baths and in-unit laundry hook-ups. The building itself is 50 feet wide, resulting in units twice the size of homes in similar conversions around the neighborhood, Halpern says.

For buyers in need of nightlife, the closest neighborhood amenity is just a few yards away: the new NXXT Restaurant & Bar at the corner of Chicago and Washtenaw avenues. The food may be so-so, but Time Out Chicago says it's a comfortable watering hole with "damn near every alcohol known to man." That has to count for something, right?

When Joel wrote about MK Development Group's Armitage Place in 2006, commenters were up in arms over the renovation of this building at 3031 W Armitage Ave.

"[W]here did the cornice go? They aren't finished yet are they?" wrote one incredulous commenter. Another added that "it looks as though the building has been circumsized [sic]."

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any photos of this building from before it was rehabbed, but I did manage to reach Sulika Mahoney from @properties, who says that all but two of the building's 15 units have been sold. So I guess the "circumcised" cornice hasn't been much of a deterrent.

Of those last two condos, one is a three-bedroom / two-bath corner unit on the second floor listed in the $260s, and the other is a two-bedroom / one-bath on the third and top floor listed in the $210s. Both units have decks in the back, and Mahoney touts the large kitchens in both.

She says the prices have been reduced for a closeout sale, and considering that Joel had price points from the $230s to the $320s, it seems that the low end has dropped at least a bit. I'll try to post some floor plans for those last two units soon.

Of the 11 condos left at The Lyonhart Group's Sheffield Condo Living conversion at 3808 N Sheffield Ave, about four are priced at or below $250,000, the cutoff point for an upcoming New Homes article about starter homes.

All four are one-bedrooms priced from the $210s to the $250s, and they're all ready for delivery. Every unit in this Wrigleyville building has hardwood floors, stainless-steel appliances, granite kitchen countertops, marble bathroom countertops, and ceramic tile bathroom floors and shower surrounds.

Beyond the $250,000 limit are seven one- and two-bedroom units priced from the $260s to the $340s.

Regulars may recall that Sheffield Condo Living was one of eight new-construction or conversion projects located within five blocks of Wrigley Field. Only two others - 740 West Addison and Park View East - have homes that fit our price range for starter homes.

What will $250,000 buy you these days?

Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking around the six regions of the Chicago, as defined in our Quick Guide - Loop / downtown, the North Side, the Far North side, the Northwest Side, the West / Southwest Side and the South Side - to see what kinds of new-construction homes and gut rehabs are selling around the $250s.

One $250,000 home is still available at Absolute Builders' Grand Briar Condominiums, a project I just happened to be checking on earlier this week. It's been nine months since anyone at Yo has mentioned this conversion at 433 W Briar Pl in Lakeview East, long enough for the development to undergo one significant change.

As you can tell from the video posted below, The Habitat Company had been marketing this project. Sometime in the past nine months, Barbara O'Connor's team at Baird & Warner took over its listings. The development has a new Web site that features price points and availability information for every unit, as well as floor plans and a slideshow tour.

The one $250,000 home for sale at Grand Briar is a one-bedroom / one-bath corner unit on the first floor, adjacent to the lobby and across the hall from the building's elevator. Its rooms are arranged in a bit of a shotgun style, as the 8-5" x 12-7" bedroom is accessible from the living area only by walking through the enclosed kitchen.

Most of the units in the building are two- and three-bedroom condos priced from the $460s to the $890s. Every home can be delivered in 60 days.

A ground-floor unit won't have lake views, but its buyer will have easy access to the lake itself - according to Google Maps, Grand Briar is about two-tenths of a mile from Belmont Harbor. Laura Louzader of The North Coast blog described the building as "a typical, beautiful 1920s vintage classical revival" and said it was her "fave building in the city, has been for 20 years." Commenter George said in November that he had lived in the building prior to the conversion and wasn't impressed with the changes being made.

Over the past three months, Jerzy Kozera of Koenig & Strey GMAC Realty has seen buyers snatch up 10 of Volo Development's 12 condos at 2537 N Sawyer Ave in Logan Square. He credits the gut-rehab's popularity to its placement on a residential, one-way street, as well as its proximity to the Logan Square Blue Line station, located just a block and a half north.

Kozera says the two remaining units are two-bedroom / two-baths on the building's third floor, one priced in the $240s and the other priced in the $270s. The former appears to be in the MLS; if the listing does correspond to that condo, then the floor plan includes a 11' x 12' master bedroom, 9' x 10' second bedroom, 9' x 11' kitchen, and 15' x 19' living area.

Improvements in every home include individual heating and air systems, hardwood floors in a variety of optional stains, a selection of Ikea kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, limestone tile bathroom floors, and balconies. Parking is not available.

One year ago, we published an article by New Homes contributor Phil Berger about Edgewater homes priced below $400,000. Phil wrote about JP Stellas Properties' conversion at 1262 W Bryn Mawr Ave, "a top-notch gut rehab of an impressive classic graystone" on the northern edge of the Lakewood Balmoral area.

Only one condo has sold in the year since we published Phil's column, leaving two "estate-sized units" (JP Stellas' words) still for sale, including the two-bedroom / two-bath garden unit (PDF) Phil focused on in his piece.

The 1,614 square-foot home is now priced in the $330s, according to the JP Stellas Web site. That's down about $30,000 from last year. The building's second-level unit, a three-bedroom / two-bath home (PDF) with 1,849 square feet, is priced in the $540s, just as it was last May.

Features for both units include restored masonry, new drywall and wood and carpet flooring, shaker-style cabinets, granite countertops, GE and Jenn-Air kitchen appliances, limestone bathroom floors, and Porcher, Grohe and Toto fixtures.

One parking space is included with the purchase of the three-bedroom. Parking is "optional" with the garden unit, but the JP Stellas Web site does not specify a cost.

More than a year has passed since we last posted a sales update for Pearson on the Park, a 27-story apartment building in Streeterville that Hawthorne Development recently converted to condos.

As Dustin pointed out last year, location is one of the building's best features. The park for which it is named is Lake Shore Park, the narrow strip of green located just across the street, next to the Museum of Contemporary Art and two blocks from Michigan Avenue and Water Tower Place.

Since our last update, Jameson Realty Group has taken over sales of the building and about 20 units have sold.

There are eight three-bedroom / two-bath condos remaining. They all have the same floor plan and are located on the northeast corner of the building (see below). Prices for those three-bedrooms seem to be priced according to placement, as they start in the $490s for the unit on the second floor and reach into the $530s for the 19th-floor home.

There are four different floor plans for Pearson on the Park's 17 two-bedroom / one-bath units (see them at the development's Web site), with price points in the $360s to the $380s.

As an added bonus, Hawthorne is now giving away parking spaces once valued at $39,000 at no additional charge.

Yo has never paid too much attention to DK / Equity's 400 North LaSalle, but on our recent walk through River North, Joe and I couldn't help but notice the massive 45-story condo conversion at the corner of LaSalle and Hubbard streets.

According to Lisa Truncale, a sales associate from 400 North LaSalle's sales center, the 453-unit building is about 68 percent sold, and 12 different floor plans are still available. Unit sizes range from 550 square feet for the smallest studios to 2,000 square feet for two-bedroom condos, and buyers also have the option of combining two smaller units into one larger condo. Most of the units come with balconies, while some of the studios have Juliet balconies.

The building was built about four years ago and originally served as a luxury apartment tower. Truncale says that conversions and upgrades are done on an individual basis, and there's an in-house design coordinator to help with upgrades.

As for incentives, buyers of one-bedrooms are offered a 10-percent credit at closing, and two-bedroom buyers are given a 15-percent credit, which can be taken off the price or go toward upgrades or parking. Garage parking, by the way, is an extra $50,000.

Price points at 400 North LaSalle are from the $230s to the $660s, and assessment fees range from the $260s to about $800 per month.