Libra Construction has plans for both sides of Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park, it seems. Along with that 18-unit building going up at 4618 N Kedzie Ave, the company is also planning to build several two-bedroom condominiums on the eastern side of the street, just north of Our Lady of Mercy Church. Mickey Miljevic of Century 21 CP Realty didn't have much information to pass along about the project, but the sign at the site says that homes will start in the $300s.

I spent an eight-month "lost weekend" in Albany Park right after college, and I'm pretty amazed by the amount of development that has occurred along streets like Lawrence and Kedzie avenues in the five years since. On the other hand, I noticed yesterday that the townhouses that were under construction at the intersection of Lawrence and Sacramento during my stay have since become rental properties, and the project seemed to stall after the first five units or so, so it's very possible that some of these projects simply aren't panning out as planned.

Do any Yo readers keep up with construction around that neighborhood? What are you seeing these days?

Mark and I spent yesterday afternoon driving around two neighborhoods that we rarely visit: Andersonville and Albany Park. I'll be editing a short drive-around video of the former later today. The latter, however, seemed to yield more new-construction discoveries, one of which you can see in the pictures above and below.

Libra Construction's four-story building at 4518 N Kedzie Ave will have 18 two-bedroom / two-bath residences and three commercial spaces when complete, says Mickey Miljevic of Century 21 CP Realty. Most of the units will have around 1,100 square feet and at least one balcony. The four corner units on each of the three residential floors will have two balconies - one off their living rooms and another off their master bedrooms.

Miljevic expects the condos to be ready for delivery in four to five months. All 18 are available starting in the $300s, he says.

The good news for some buyers is that the building is just a couple blocks south of the refurbished Kedzie Brown Line station. The bad news is that the drive-thru speaker at the McDonald's next door may just ruin your life, according to this hard-hitting public-service piece in yesterday's Trib.

Two Lucien Lagrange-designed high-rises in the far north reaches of River North (or the new southern end of the Gold Coast, in agent-speak) continue their march upward.

The Elysian Hotel and Private Residences (the taller of the two, located at 11 E Walton Pl) will be 60 stories high when complete. At last check, only a handful of its half-floor residential units were still available, at prices ranging from $2.8 million to $4.9 million, and about a quarter of its hotel condominiums were selling from the $600s to the $950s.

Immediately south is Ten East Delaware, The Prime Group's 35-story boutique tower at 10 E Delaware Pl. Crews are making headway - the parking structure and retail level have taken shape - but there's still plenty of work to be done between now and the fall of 2009. Homes at Ten East Delaware run from the $550s to $2.6 million.

I visited the Ten East Delaware sales center not too long ago, and I recently posted a construction checkup for these towers' neighbor to the west, Walton on the Park. To see what these sites looked like in March, check out my Joewalking video from the corner of State Street and Delaware Place.

- Rate and review The Elysian at NewHomeNotebook.com
- Rate and review Ten East Delaware at NewHomeNotebook.com

As Patrick noted in March, the crews at 1600 Museum Park were pouring an average of one floor a week. A drive past 1621 S Prairie Ave yesterday afternoon revealed that the building has half of its glass and is just about ready to top off.

At last check, the 30-story, 270-unit building was more than 60 percent sold, with price points for the remaining condos ranging from the $290s to the $700s.

– Rate and review this project at NewHomeNotebook.

On a swing through the South Side yesterday, Joe and I stopped off in the South Loop and took a few construction photos. I had reported that Sedgwick Properties' Marquee was topped off, so we went to check out the finished product at 1454 S Michigan Ave.

Since the development was first announced, we've been posting the same rendering on Yo that is actually little more than a nice-looking elevation drawing. It appears that plans have changed since that drawing was first published, as the prominently-featured mansard roof is nowhere to be seen in the rendering that's currently shown on the Marquee Web site (above, at left), and there's no trace of it on the finished product (above, at right).

Commenter Allison mentioned yesterday that her Realtor is worried that the building won't be finished. Does anyone else know what's going on with this building?

- Rate and review the condos at this project at NewHomeNotebook.

Construction began in the spring on Phase II of Eastgate Village, New West Realty's large condo and townhouse development along King Drive between 25th and 26th streets in Bronzeville. Katherine Sather, New West's director of marketing, says that work is done on about three-fourths of 80 condos in Phase II, but closings haven't started yet.

Sather says there are still a handful of townhouses left from Phase I, but that all of the condos are sold out. I was able to find four available two- and three-bedroom / 2.5-bath townhouses on New West's Web site that are priced from the $340s to the $390s. All four townhouses come with attached two-car garages, and the one that's listed in the $390s also has a roof deck.

Sather says that construction on Phase II should be completed this fall. Phase II condos will be priced from the $280s to the $390s, and townhouses will be offered from the $540s to the $610s.

When completed, the entire development will include more than 300 condos and townhouses divided into about four phases.

In an attempt to spur on some new sales of their single-family homes and townhouses, the developers of the Renaissance at Beverly Ridge are offering buyers two incentives.

Buyers who finance their homes through National City Bank will see their mortgage rates reduced by 1.5 points, says sales associate Ebonie Taylor-Brookins. Government employees at any level - city, county, state or federal - will also receive $5,000 toward upgrades, she says.

Approximately 20 percent of the 123 single-family homes and 50 townhouses in Renaissance's first phase had already sold when MGM Construction and The Terrell Group broke ground in April 2007. Taylor-Brookins said today that sales are at about 25 percent, so it's been a slow year down in Beverly. If these incentives are relatively new, it'll be interesting to see if they kickstart sales. If they've been around for a while, then buyers are probably needing a sweeter pot than the one they're seeing right now.

Taylor-Brookins sounds pretty upbeat about things, though. The people who have purchased homes seem to "enjoy the idea of a big, new-construction community instead of infill homes, which they're used to seeing around here."

Prices at Renaissance at Beverly Ridge start in the $290s for a 1,423 square-foot, three-bedroom home (the "Regal A," whose floor plan is at right) and reach up into the $560s for a 3,165 square-foot, three-bedroom home, according to MGM's Web site. Three models are nearing completion, and first deliveries will begin this August.

Edit: As reader Rory pointed out, the name on this one will fool you. It's in Washington Heights.

Joe and I found ourselves in Printers Row soon after I posted the Library Tower sales update earlier this morning, so we walked over to the intersection of State and Harrison streets and took a few photos. From a concept vs. execution standpoint, this is one case in which the finished product far outshines the architect's washed-out rendering. It also seems to fit in with its surroundings pretty well, both in terms of height and architectural style.

However, one thing that Joe and I noted while checking this building out is that it doesn't exactly fit the billing of a "tower." When I think of towers, I think of Eiffel and Sears, and even Trump, but they don't all have to be quite so lofty. Most definitions of a tower specify that the building should be taller than it is wide, and it's difficult to tell from this angle if that's the case with Library Tower.

Sales and construction have been lurching forward since we last posted an update on Yo for Stonegate Development's Silver Tower, back in March. Back then, Patrick reported that 64 percent of the condos had sold. Today, I've learned that the number has reached about 70 percent.

@properties agent Jason Pohlonski tells me that 163 of the 225 units in the River North tower have been sold, and that most of the remaining units are one-bedrooms. Pohlonski says he has sold three units in the past week, and he says that foreign investors and second-home buyers have been drawn to the development. Silver Tower's location at the edge of the Ohio Street connector to the Kennedy Expressway appeals to suburban buyers who are looking for in-town residences, Pohlonski says.

Prices for the remaining units range from the $290s for the smallest one-bedrooms to the $790s for a three-bedroom / 2.5-bath combination unit (see floor plan below). This three-bedroom unit is located on the 12th floor, just above the parking garage, and has a large outdoor terrace. The unit is listed at 1,800 square feet on the Silver Tower Web site.

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago that Utopian Properties' 12-unit condo development at 155 N Aberdeen St in the West Loop was scheduled for completion this fall, frequent commenter Stokes expressed skepticism.

Now, after visiting the construction site, I will have to agree with Stokes. I'm no expert at predicting construction time lines, but I'd say that unless Studio Dwell's design is for a modular building (which, I've been told, isn't permitted in Chicago), I wouldn't anticipate this four-story development to be completed before the end of the year.

Last I checked, six of the 12 condos in 155 North Aberdeen were still available, and they are priced from the $470s to the $950s.