Last night, I attended a RedEye-sponsored open house at LOACQ's Opera Lofts in Bronzeville. It isn't uncommon for RedEye to host these events, but this is the first one I've attended. Some members of the Chicago Opera Theater performed for visitors, and several units - both furnished and unfurnished - were open for guests to tour.

Whenever we ask sales agents what's special about Opera Lofts, they always emphasize the development's "unique floor plans," so that's what I was looking for last night. When I got there, I bumped into a group of visitors who were just returning from the model units. "You've got to check out unit 502," they told me. So that's what I did.

Unit 502 is indeed a unique floor plan. The two-bedroom / two-bath loft has two staircases leading to the lofted master bedroom and bathroom, 19.5-foot ceiling heights in the living room and a small den or office space beneath the master bedroom. The second bedroom is separated from the living room with a full-height wall. The brochure says the unit is 1,842 square feet, and it's listed in the $460s.

A floor plan for unit 502 is below. Look out for the video I shot at the event last night.

We received a press release last week for the inaugural Pullman / Roseland Spring Parade of Homes, a tour of new and renovated homes on the far end of Chicago’s South Side. The event is free, and it’s sponsored by the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS) and Park Bank Initiatives, a nonprofit subsidiary of Park National Bank.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 4. It begins at Park National Bank, 1000 E 111th St, where you can get a map and welcome package. From there, you can take a van to the homes that are participating in the parade.

According to the press release, “all the homes showcased in the Spring Parade will be available for purchase with prices starting as low as $135,000, depending on the buyer's income; most homes are available for immediate delivery.”

For an idea of what you’ll be getting yourself into at the Parade of Homes, take a look at some of the videos in our YouTube Pullman video playlist that we shot with the folks from Park Bank Initiatives, or check out this strange Roseland video that Joe Zekas posted in 2006.

Figured I'd pass along a reminder that the Southside Builders Association's Premiere of Homes begins tomorrow morning. Thirteen South Side developers will open up furnished models at 21 developments from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 4-6.

Participants include Granite Development's Oakwood Shores, Draper & Kramer's Lake Park Crescent, The Thrush Companies' Jazz on the Boulevard, and Sutherland Pearsall Development Corp's lofts and townhomes on Drexel Boulevard. You can find a complete list of Premiere of Homes locations at the Southside Builders Association's Web site.

A tip of Yo's hat to Michael Kardas, our resident staff photographer, on his recent nomination as a finalist for Illinois Meetings and Events Magazine's annual awards.

The trade publication released its 2007 "Best Of" finalists for a range of categories, from florists to caterers to hotels. Kardas, whose work has been featured extensively on YoChicago and in the pages of New Homes Magazine, landed a spot among the top three photo / video nominees.

The official award ceremony takes place tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rockit Bar & Grille, 22 W Hubbard St.

Shown here is an example of Kardas' fresh look at the city's natural and built environments.

Home buyers can inspect a variety of few new condominiums, lofts and townhouses during the Southside Builders Association's Premiere of Homes, scheduled for the first weekend in April.

Thirteen developers will open 21 South Side sites to visitors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 4 through 6. All homes will be furnished.

Among the developments open during the event will be Granite Development's Oakwood Shores (that's one of their new homes pictures above), Draper & Kramer's Lake Park Crescent, The Thrush Companies' Jazz on the Boulevard, and Sutherland Pearsall Development Corp's lofts and townhomes on Drexel Boulevard.

Get the complete list of Premiere of Homes participants at the Southside Builders Association's Web site.

Mark your calendars: On March 29, civic groups are asking residents to turn off their lights for one hour, from 8 to 9 p.m., as part of a global initiative on climate change.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour aims to bring together residents in big cities around the world to send a message about the effects of climate change. Chicago joins San Francisco, Atlanta, Phoenix, Brisbane, Copenhagen, Manila, Melbourne, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Toronto in pledging to go dark on March 29.

As World Wildlife Fund's flagship city for the United States, Chicago, a leader in environmental initiatives, is encouraging its residents across the region to make the pledge to help fight global warming by voluntarily turning off their lights for 60 minutes. Signature skyscrapers, key landmarks, theater marquees and shops on the Magnificent Mile will voluntarily turn off their lights.

The Chicago effort has the blessing of ComEd, Mayor Daley and several civic and business groups, including the Chicago Association of Realtors and BOMA Chicago.

If all goes according to plan, the city's famous skyline will go dark (or dim, at least) around 8 p.m. on March 29. With even marginal participation, it's sure to be quite a show - though photographing the event may be a little tough.

I dropped by the Appraisal Research Counselors 2008 Forecast Luncheon today to hear remarks on ARC's upcoming benchmark report.

At the luncheon, Gail Lissner, a vice president with ARC, pointed to 235 Van Buren as last year's absorption leader - though she suggested that investor sales played a large part in that lead.

ARC found that the 46-story high-rise sold 50 percent of its 714 units in a single quarter. Since then, though, the project has reported just a handful of additional sales, as Joe Askins reported at the end of January. Look for more on CMK Companies' 1720 S. Michigan in the March issue of New Homes Magazine.

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

They didn't use crystal balls, but a handful of key real estate players from the Lincoln Park Builders of Chicago nonetheless sought to predict the future at a recent forecast panel. Don Debat, a columnist for New Homes Magazine, reports on their prognostications in this month's issue.

Although interest rates are extremely affordable, the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis has caused the nation’s mortgage industry to go through a “state of siege” and that likely will last two more years, said mortgage broker David Hochberg of Townstone Financial.

“Over the last five years, the residential lending market was like the Wild West,” Hochberg said. “Now, 6-percent home-loan rates are available, but many lenders are not approving loans. No-doc loans are out, and lenders are saying that mortgage applicants with a credit score in the low-500s seeking a zero-down payment loan will be rejected.”

Read the full story in New Homes' newly redesigned February issue.

A tip of the hat to Chicago Magazine for including us in their "Nothing But Net: 171 Great Chicago Web Sites" feature.

The package, available in the mag's February issue, lists YoChicago as one of five standout real estate sites serving Chicagoland. We share the category with Zillow, CondoPerks, NewsChicago, BlockShopper and Baird & Warner.