The building was topped off months ago, and I'm ashamed to report that we still don't have an updated photo of Marquee at 1454 S Michigan Ave in the South Loop. Developer Sedgwick Properties is currently offering a couple of incentives, including an offer to "live free all summer long." Sales agent Norge Clemente from Koenig & Stray GMAC Real Estate says that buyers will be able to move in immediately and delay closing on units for two or three months.

Recently, I've been hearing a lot of developers and agents mention the difficulty of getting buyers to sign contracts for condos in developments that are either under construction or that have yet to break ground. This incentive seems to reinforce the notion that buyers in this market need material evidence that developers will deliver on their end of the deal.

The other incentive being offered at Marquee is $15,000 off of two- and three-bedroom corner units in tiers 01 and 04 on the floor plate. The least expensive of those corner units is a two-bedroom priced in the $350s, and the highest is a three-bedroom on the northeast corner priced in the low $500s.

Clemente says that 27 of the 208 units in the building are still available. Many are ready for immediate deliveries, as people are living in the lower floors, while some interior construction is still being done on the upper floors. Garage parking is an additional $35,000.

Construction on The Kopley Group's Lofts at 1800 is moving at "warp speed," according to senior vice president Lynn Jackson. About 10 of the 91 lofts in the old E.R. Moore cap and gown factory have been sold so far, but Jackson says that new incentives and a marketing push have attracted a flood of potential buyers.

The Kopley Group is now offering a two-year, no-questions-asked "money-back guarantee" to the next 15 buyers to sign contracts at the loft development at 1800 W Grace St. It's a pretty uncommon marketing technique, but it seems to be working. When I spoke with Jackson this morning, she was in the process of drawing up a contract. The Kopley Group first started offering the two-year buyback at the Renaissance Lofts in Rogers Park, and because of its popularity, the offer is being extended to the Lofts at 1800.

Two models should be ready in another six weeks, but construction won't be finished for another year. Jackson says that first move-ins are expected for June of 2009. One-bedrooms start in the $260s, two-bedrooms start in the $350s and three-bedrooms start in the $720s. Garage parking spaces are offered for an extra $27,500.

A photo of one of the buildings before construction is below, and a gallery of photos from the Yo archive can be found here.

While browsing through the "Chicago Homes" section of the Chicago Tribune, Val noticed a buyer incentive at Grand Plaza in River North that we haven't seen before:

Still renting? Why…. We'll pay off up to six months of your existing lease so you can buy at Grand Plaza. Spend your summer here!

That's textbook starter-home enticement, and it seems to be based on an assumption that potential buyers are holding out on luxury condos because they're locked into rental leases. Because the incentive is tailored to renters, I asked project director Ginny Kronsted if it the incentive was geared more towards some of the more inexpensive units in the building.

Kronsted reminded me that renters and first-time buyers are a group that defy easy categorization because they can fall into a variety of income brackets, which is why the promise to cover six months of rent could cost developer Jaeger Equities as little as a few thousand dollars or more than $100,000 per unit.

Kronsted says there is a limit to how much rent the developer is willing to pay, and that there's a discretionary fund attached to each condo. For example, the developer will pay up to $30,000 in rent to buyers of a one-bedroom that's listed at $300,000 (floor plan at right), while the discretionary fund for a 2,500 square-foot bi-level penthouse listed at $1.3 million is set at about $150,000 (floor plan below).

Although the banner in the photo at the top of this post says "Totally Terrapin," Terrapin Properties is no longer involved in Grand Plaza; Jaeger Equities is now the sole developer. Twenty-four of Grand Plaza's 284 units are still available, and they are priced from the $300s to $1.3 million.

Do you get off on keeping a tidy closet? You aren't alone. Obsessions over clean closets have given rise to a entire industry of custom-made designer organizers. It's a fad that I don't completely understand, but I suppose it's one of those "don't-bash-it-until-you-try-it" sort of things.

@properties agent Paul Fortman says that the buyers of the final two units at The Avenue on Grand will get $2,500 to $5,000 toward the customization of their closet spaces. Fortman lives in
the building and says he redesigned his two master-bedroom closets for about $2,800.

Those two remaining condos are a 1,750 square-foot, two-bedroom / two-bath unit, and a larger 2,150 square-foot, two-bedroom / two-bath top-floor unit (or penthouse, if you prefer). The top-floor unit has a private roof deck, while the other shares a common terrace with the building's lower-level homes.

The smaller home is listed in the $380s, while the larger one is priced in the $530s. Parking is an extra $15,000.

We keep an eye out for unusual incentives, and as summer heats up and developers try to lure what few buyers are still out there, incentives seem to be getting more aggressive and bizarre. Take Piedmont Group's Glashaus, for example. We received a press release this week with a (somewhat misleading) conditional offer: OWN AT GLASHAUS, OWN HAWAII FREE!

To be clear, Piedmont Group is not offering the entire island state to condo buyers. Instead, what they're offering is an eight-day per year timeshare in a Hawiian resort.

Your complimentary vacation home is perfectly situated on the shores of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Where you'll experience spectacular views luxurious amenities, and plenty of places to chill out.

@properties agent Catherine Steigmann tells me the time-share is in the Kalai Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (as seen in the above photo). The offer only applies to buyers of two-bedroom condos, and Steigmann says there are only a handful of two-bedrooms remaining. (She didn't disclose exactly how many.)

Steigmann says that foundation work at Glashaus is completed, and vertical construction will start soon.

Every time I drive down Halsted Street late on a Friday or Saturday night, I'm confronted by the same sight: hordes of club-goers jockeying for nonexistent taxis. I'm not sure what club they come from, but as a general rule, I'd say that the loading dock behind L. Isaacson & Stein Fish Co. is not one of the best places to hail a taxi in Chicago.

That building across the street from the fish market is The Thrush Companies' 740 Fulton, and sales there haven't changed much recently. (Could it have something to do with the smell of fish in the area?)

Deliveries at 740 Fulton started about a year ago, and now we're starting to see some deals and price reductions at the Fulton River District high-rise.

Terri Buseman from Keller Williams Realty says that about 35 of the building's 132 condos are still available, and most of the remaining units are two-bedrooms. She didn't offer exact figures, but she mentioned that prices had been reduced on all units in the building this spring.

The only units that I have specific information for are the four two-bedroom corner units that have been reduced in price to $450,000 from as much as $495,000. Those four units are 1,391 square feet, and they're located on floors six, nine, 11 and 12. A floor plan for those units is at right.

It's a rare day when resident skeptic Joseph Askins is forced to eat his words around here, so I might as well serve it up while I can. I'd like to call to memory a certain "I'll believe it when I see it" post regarding a "limited-time" free parking incentive at Russland Capital Development Group's Michigan Avenue Tower II:

Don't get me wrong - it's entirely possible that Russland will start charging $37,500 per space starting this June, so buyers who like the 28-story high-rise at 1400 S Michigan Ave might want to take the plunge in the next couple of weeks. I'm just sayin', don't be surprised if Michigan Avenue Tower II rolls out some free parking spaces for its limited-time-only "summer incentive" sometime next month.

We're almost two weeks into June, so I gave the Michigan Avenue Tower II sales center a call this morning and learned that the free parking incentive did indeed end with the month of May. (Joe seems less than repentant, sarcastically inviting me to hold him accountable for his "cruel presumptions.")

Part of me can't help but wonder if Joe's post had something to do with the termination of that long-running free parking incentive. Either way, Russell's June incentive is a "luxury upgrade package" that will include a marble upgrades in the master bathroom, ceramic tile upgrades in second bathrooms, 1-1/4" granite counters, as well as cabinet and flooring upgrades.

The sales agent I spoke with estimated that buyers could save up to $13,000 on the bathrooms alone, and he thought the whole package could be worth more than $20,000. That's not as much as the $37,500 that parking spaces are going for, but at least Russland is doing what it said it would.

With prices for new condos at Solstice on the Park starting in the $500s, some of Hyde Park's other condo developments are starting to look more affordable.

Take the Silver Cloud Condominiums, for example, a 13-story vintage high-rise at 5346 S Cornell Ave. Prices for two-bedroom condos in the 1920s apartment tower have started in the $230s since rehabilitation started more than a year ago, but this morning I noticed a two-bedroom unit listed at $217,900.

Century 21 Sussex and Reilly's Arsiak Raffaelli says the listing prices aren't coming down, but developer Creative Designs Builders will pay six months of mortgage payments, assessments and property taxes for buyers who sign contracts in the next three weeks.

A year of free parking is also offered with the deal. (Rental parking at the Silver Cloud is $125 per month.)

Raffaelli says the 72-unit high-rise is currently 40% sold, which seems low, considering that these units have been on the market for almost two years, but she is optimistic that there's still a market for this vintage conversion.

"It's going to be the next Edgewater," Raffaelli says of Hyde Park. She points to the city's Olympics bid and the stadium proposed for neighboring Washington Park as signs that Hyde Park isn't just a university neighborhood, and that it can still attract luxury buyers.

Here's one that Val brought back to the Yo office this afternoon: Buy this new single-family home at 2715 W Adams St in East Garfield Park, and the developer will give you $1,500 a month for two years to help pay your mortgage. (My college education tells me that comes out to $36,000 over the course of the deal.)

The buyer will also have a choice of a custom paint package and a washer and dryer, or a plasma TV.

This three-bedroom / 3.5-bath, all-brick home has stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops, a kitchen island, a fireplace, a deck, and a two-car garage. It's priced in the $450s and is listed by Phil McCall and AnneMarie Garza of AMS Realty.

File this one under "I'll believe it when I see it" (we really could use a post category along those lines): Russland Capital Development Group supposedly will stop packaging free parking spaces with the remaining units at Michigan Avenue Tower II after May 31.

If I sound skeptical, it's only because this "spring incentive" was already in place last fall. As Barry said in a post about the offer way back in October, "limited-time offers have a way of extending these days."

Don't get me wrong - it's entirely possible that Russland will start charging $37,500 per space starting this June, so buyers who like the 28-story high-rise at 1400 S Michigan Ave might want to take the plunge in the next couple of weeks. I'm just sayin', don't be surprised if Michigan Avenue Tower II rolls out some free parking spaces for its limited-time-only "summer incentive" sometime next month.

Michigan Avenue Tower II has been about 90 percent sold for the past six months, judging from old Yo posts. Among the 30 or so condos left in the building are one-bedrooms starting in the $300s, one-bedroom-plus-dens starting in the $310s, two-bedrooms starting in the $410s and two-bedroom-plus-dens starting in the $490s.

A single two-bedroom penthouse, similar to the one seen below, is still available in the $550s. Upgrade packages are included in all the prices.

Deliveries at Michigan Avenue Tower II should begin sometime this fall.