A few weeks ago, a reader used our tip line to ask about the status of 50 East Chestnut, Jameson Development's boutique high-rise at 50 E Chestnut St. It's taken a while to get through to the folks at Jameson, but lo and behold, I had a price sheet waiting for me in my inbox this morning.

Sales have progressed slightly since this Jan. 30th post about the building's new model. Back then, 14 of the building's 34 full-floor homes were still for sale. According to this new sheet, 12 condos are available from $2.87 million (on the building's sixth floor) to $3.56 million (on its 27th floor). With the homes ranging from 3,845 to 3,904 square feet, those prices come out to around $747 to $913 per square foot.

Each has three bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a media room and a library. Jameson has upgraded every unit with "technology wiring" (high-speed Internet, iPod docks and surround sound, I would assume), tray ceilings with cove lighting, and three-inch white oak floors. Parking is available for $65,000 per space, and estimated assessments run from a whopping $2,338.79 to an even more whopping $2,768.16 per month. Start saving those pennies, kids.

A floor plan for the least expensive unit - a 3,845 square-foot, sixth-floor home priced at $2.87 million - is below.

Back in the good old days (2006, to be exact), the Ritz-Carlton Residences high-rise made headlines for its Trump-topping average price per square foot. The Ritz's super-luxe condos clocked in at a whopping $1,076 per square foot, a whole $36 more on average than Trump's residences. I don't have the Spire's average price per square foot in front of me, so I don't know if it has since ascended to the top of Money Mountain, but I think it's safe to say that the Ritz is still near the top of the heap.

If you sift back through the Yo archives, you'll notice a considerable lack of Ritz-Carlton updates. Maybe the staff figured the average Yo reader wasn't the kind of person who could drop $1.4 million on a one-bedroom. Don't let our silence fool you into thinking that nothing's happening at 664 N Michigan Ave, though - construction is underway and sales have almost reached the 50 percent mark, says sales agent Jane Shawkey.

Approximately 39 of the tower's 86 units have sold, and the project is beginning to run low on its least expensive one-bedroom homes, Shawkey says. Moving up the ladder in both price and size, a few of the lowest-priced two-bedrooms are still available starting at $1.9 million. The 1,882 square-foot units have views to the east onto Michigan Avenue and to the north toward Oak Street Beach. You can see the layout for those units below.

Prices for the rest of the Ritz-Carlton's two- and three-bedroom condos make their way well past $3 million, and its sky-high, half-floor penthouses can go for as much as $13 million.

The 40-story building should be ready for first deliveries by July 2010, Shawkey says.

The reports of Waterview Tower’s financing hiccups last month didn’t scare away buyers. In fact, sales director Dorrie Freiman says the project is having a better first and second quarter this year than it did in 2007.

Sales at the super-skyscraper under construction at 121 W Wacker Dr have creeped up slightly since my last report. More than 68 percent of the tower’s 233 residential condos have sold, she says. (Another 222 condos will make up the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, located on Waterview’s 12th through 27th floors.)

I called Freiman looking for a good unit to feature on Yo. The one plan she singled out, seen below, is a two-bedroom floor plan found on the tower’s 68th through 79th floors.

According to the Waterview Tower Web site, the unit has 2,217 square feet of living space, plus an 11’ x 5’ terrace. The front door opens into a 9’ x 6-7” foyer, which forks in one direction toward the home’s main living areas and master bedroom and another direction toward its second bedroom and study.

The living / dining area boasts oak floors and 11-foot-high, floor-to-ceiling windows facing two directions. The 16-10” x 14-5” kitchen has granite countertops, Sub-Zero and Miele appliances, and a Kohler sink and fixtures on an island.

The 15-1” x 15’ master bedroom has two walk-in closets and a bathroom outfitted with Kallista and Kohler fixtures and finished with marble floors and walls.

On the other side of the condo is the 13-9” x 12-5” second bedroom. The room has two closets including one walk-in, as well as its own bathroom. At 10-5” x 11-10”, the nearby study is large enough to double as a third bedroom; it’s also the only room with access to the aforementioned terrace.

For all that, you’ll have to fork over approximately $1.71 million. Homes at Waterview Tower stretch from the $780s all the way to $8.8 million, a range that seems comparable to its nearest new-construction neighbor, the ever-rising Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Deliveries at Waterview Tower are set to begin around the end of 2009.

See that? Even The Donald knows how to "Yo!"

Mark and I took a trip on Monday to Trump's umpteenth ceremony in honor of his International Hotel and Tower. We shot a lot of video, including most of Donald and Ivanka's press conference and our tour through the tower's many amenities, like Sixteen, rebar and the Spa at Trump. Check back later for footage from our trip.

Back in June, we reported on the latest offering from RMR Group and Studio Dwell Architects: a nine-unit luxury project at 1919 W Crystal St in Wicker Park.

The @properties agent we spoke with last summer predicted deliveries in April, but I checked in yesterday and found a slightly adjusted schedule for the project.

Construction is underway, according to Bessie Alvarez, and the new homes will be ready in late summer. Five of the nine duplexes are 1919 W Crystal St are still available from the $700s to the $800s. For a closer look at the homes, check out units 102 and 103, listed by Alvarez for $770,000 and $784,000, respectively.

Studio Dwell has a number of developments under construction or recently delivered, including 155 Aberdeen in the West Loop and 2157 Division in Wicker Park.

Many buyers associate luxury living with the South Loop's ubiquitous high-rise towers. It's worth noting, however, that some developers are building luxury homes on a slightly smaller scale.

This photo shows Terrazio's construction at 1935 S Wabash Ave. The Sedgwick Properties development consists of a pair of mid-rise buildings totaling 180 one-, two- and three-bedroom condos. According to Koenig & Strey's Web site, prices start in the $190s - still pretty low for new construction, as Yo noted last October.

I'll follow up with the sales team to get some more pricing information, but if you'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth, check out the Young Real Estate Professionals speaker luncheon on April 10, 2008. Sedgwick Properties founder and president Marty Paris will be the keynote speaker.

Palais 1418, a four-unit development at 1418 N LaSalle St, would like to claim the Gold Coast as its home neighborhood - but alas, it's a bit too far west, according to YoChicago's comprehensive neighborhood boundary guide.

That puts the project closer to Old Town. All the same, Palais 1418 represents one of a few small-scale luxury projects under development on the Near North Side. We cover high-rise projects like Walton on the Park and 10 East Delaware quite a bit, but some luxury buyers might prefer their new homes to be a bit smaller in scale.

With that in mind, Palais 1418 fits the bill nicely. The project sits on a 33-foot-by-148-foot lot and expects to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood with a European-inspired limestone exterior. This stretch of LaSalle Street feels more like an urban boulevard, with vintage three-flats, tree-lined streets and a planted median.

Each three-bedroom / three-bath home totals about 2,500 square feet and features a wood-burning fireplace, separate wine refrigerator and Juliet balconies.

Developer Ron Ysla (the builder behind Washington Boulevard Lofts in the West Loop) plans to live in the penthouse condo. Three homes remain, each named for a quaint French town: Antibes, Biarritz and Chamonix. All three are priced at $1.25 million, which brings the price-per-square-foot in at just under $500. Deliveries are expected in June.

Rubloff's Clare Zaro has the listing.

The five-unit building at 1259 W Adams St has been in delivery for a year or more, but two "vanilla-box" homes remain. (That makes the development 60 percent sold, for those of you keeping track.)

The last two homes are both three-bedroom / 2.5 bath homes totaling about 2,100 square feet each. Jamie Connor, a sales agent with Century 21 Sussex & Reilly, says the luxury homes are about 3 months from delivery, mainly because the builders offer diverse selections for just about every furnishing and accessory.

"These guys are doing everything custom, down to the toilets," Connor told me today.

Unit 3 is priced in the $770s, and Unit 4 (listed on Sussex & Reilly's Web site) is priced in the $790s.

The photo above shows the development's slightly-less-attractive rear exposure, but it's the part of the building most people will see as they drive west down Adams. For a closer look at a few more projects in the West Loop, check out Joe Askins' recent video tour of the neighborhood.

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."

Sometimes construction decisions manifest themselves as intriguing design elements. Consider this photo of Legacy at Millenium Park, a 72-story high-rise under construction at 60 E Monroe St.

Unlike the humorous treatment given to the unwanted concrete column at 565 Quincy's model, this pillar has a vital role to play in the project.

It's part of the tower's structural design, and the presence of pillars in the homes permits the sheer curtain wall that will hang off the exterior of the high-rise, according to Andy Warner of Equity Marketing.

The upshot is that the project can boast a gorgeous glass facade unmarked by traditional structural elements - but homeowners must contend with the occasional support column in their living room.

Here are a few more photos from my recent visit to the sales center at 18 S Michigan Ave.