About 25 percent of all Americans shopping for a home in the next 20 years will want to live within a half-mile of a public transit stop, and people who give up cars completely can trim more than $6,000 from their annual household budgets.

That's the word from Peter Skosey, vice president of external relations for the Metropolitan Planning Council. Skosey wrote about public transportation's benefits to home owners in the March issue of New Homes Magazine (available now at these locations).

After college, Chicago resident Ariel Diamond chose to settle just two blocks from the Sheridan Red Line station on the North Side. She quickly discovered that the city’s streets are laid out on a grid, making it a no-brainer to get just about anywhere on a bus. And she was thrilled to discover what she calls “the magical grocery store” located adjacent to “her” train station. Alta Vista Foods carries an abundance of fresh foods, including meats and produce, all packed neatly into a tiny storefront just steps from the Sheridan stop.

Diamond’s experience illustrates why more developers and homebuyers are embracing “transit-oriented development.” TOD is pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development built around – and shaped by – transit stations. Typically focused on capturing residential and retail opportunities within a half-mile of a transit station, TOD combines rental and for-sale homes with restaurants, grocery stores, office buildings and other commercial uses.

Read the rest of Skosey's column here.

Remember the Pure2o teaser that went up in Uptown a couple weeks back? Well, a little digging uncovered a development profile on Castleroc Estates' Web page and a "confidential" memo outlining the project for investors.

The sources describe an 18-story tower at 4700 N Clarendon Ave with 162 luxury homes. Preliminary pricing starts in the $220s, with penthouses starting in the $650s.

Castleroc's page also features a couple news stories on Pure2o, which has yet to begin sales in the U.S.

According to the Sunday Independent (PDF), the project has been on the market in the U.K. since at least October 2007 "so the Irish will have the pick of units."

"These are not neighborhoods where they’re knocking down warehouses and building 50 new units. We don’t have a lot of additional inventory."

- Jeff Lowe, of Century 21 Sussex & Reilly, describing the relative lack of inventory in Lincoln Park and Lake View.

According to data from MLSNI, total sales last year in those two neighborhoods totaled more than $2 billion, representing 4,106 condos, townhomes and single-family homes. The average sale price for 2007 was $494,952, and homes priced between $200,000 and $249,999 represented the single largest sales bracket with 472 closings reported.

Why aren't more people taking the plunge on a new condominium or townhouse at the moment?

“They think that things may be worse than they are. They look at headlines instead of reading the details,” says Chad Baugh of Winthrop Properties.

Baugh and YoChicago.com’s Joe Zekas discussed the market for new homes during a recent tour of the Printers Corner sales center at 170 W Polk St. Watch the video above to hear more of their conversation, or click back to this recent Yo post to learn more about Printers Corner.

In YoChicago's recent interview with Sharon Rizzo, she discussed the relative scarcity of parking in River North.

At the Park Kingsbury, a 40-unit loft conversion that Sharon's marketing at 660 N Kingsbury St, the indoor parking spots aren't provided on a one-to-one basis - meaning late buyers may not be able to snag an indoor spot with their new loft home.

Park Kingsbury's indoor parking spots are available from $40,000, and it got me wondering about the varying price points for indoor parking around River North. Here's some comparative data from a few nearby projects:

• Superior 110 - parking from $42,000
• 757 Orleans - parking from $35,000
• Walton on the Park - parking from $50,000
• Canyon Ranch Living - $50,000, but that gets you 24-hour valet service - not a deeded spot

"On one hand [buyers] hear all the bad national market news. On the other, they lose properties they actual love in multiple offers or by never offering.

If you buy with your heart… things seem to turn out okay. I have bought places that felt right for us without a second thought and life goes on."

- Eric Rojas, commenting on yesterday's video of the Park Kingsbury in River North.

For more perspective on buying versus waiting, check out our video interview with Garry Benson and Christine Lutz, of Garrison Partners Consulting.

During a brief sojourn through the South Loop yesterday, I stopped by Motor Row Condominiums' sales center (2300 S Michigan Ave) - or rather, the shuttered retail storefront where it used to be.

News coming out of Rokas International, the project's developer, has worsened over the last few months, and curious Yo readers have been seeking more information on this and other Rokas developments. The Web site says the sales center is open by appointment only.

Construction is usually the first aspect of a project to cease in the event of a meltdown, according to builders I spoke with, but work was proceeding apace when I stopped by, as you can see in this photo.

Anyone know more about the future of Motor Row Condominiums and Rokas International?

If you're looking to live in a high-rise, there are just a few options available in the South Loop in the $200,000 price range, according to our new high-rise guide.

One candidate is 1349 South Wabash Private Residences. Developer See Wong has consistently marketed his 15-story high-rise (under construction at 1349 S Wabash Ave) based on its more affordable finishes and fewer amenities. I checked in yesterday and found a 520-square-foot studio unit starting at $189,000 (floor plan shown here). (Thanks to Geoff and Kelly for pointing out the incorrect plan!)

The only other high-rise home in this price range was a studio at 235 Van Buren - and that condo squeaked in at $199,900. At 525 square feet (and no balcony), it's about the same size as 1349 South Wabash's offering, but it's part of a much larger building (714 units, compared to just 78 at 1349 South Wabash). For studio shoppers who want to be steps from the Loop, 235 Van Buren might fit the bill.

According to an article in Crain's, Forman Realty Corp is planning a 19-story condo tower in Lake View, about half a mile north of the Lincoln Park 2520 site. The developer is a subsidiary of Wirtz Corp, which owns the Chicago Blackhawks and a sizable liquor distribution operation in Illinois.

Though many developers are holding off on new projects amid a depressed condo market, Forman vice president Arnie Piechocki believes prospects are good for his tower and plans to begin marketing its condos as soon as this summer.

“There hasn’t been anything new on Sheridan Road for 30 years or so,” he says. Moreover, “it’s only 79 units. It’s not like we’re building 400 condos that will be hard to sell.”

Talk about a sharp rendering: This view of the Loop, looking north, shows how 235 Van Buren will fit into the existing skyline.

At Appraisal Research Counselors' luncheon last week, Gail Lissner pointed to 235 Van Buren as the absorption winner for 2007. Part of the building's initial appeal was pricing; the building went to market averaging just $325 per square foot, she said, which was reasonable for a Loop residence.

CMK Realty's Heather Gustafson provided me with an updated pricing list last Friday; several one-bedroom formats are completely sold out, and the remaining units average about $365 per square foot.

There's a studio unit available from $199,900, but the rest of the homes start in the $230s for a one-bedroom unit (no balcony) and range up to the $550s for a two-bed corner residence totaling 1,446 square feet.

That unit (the largest still available, according to the data CMK provided) breaks down to about $384 per square feet. Parking starts at $31,000.