The frame of Utopian Properties' 12-unit condo building is up at 155 N Aberdeen St in the West Loop, and workers were on site when I visited this morning, although several of them were holding picket signs (a sight that I've been encountering more frequently these days).

Aside from that concrete wall, just to the north of where the entrance will be, the building is still just a skeleton, but we've seen quite a bit of development at this site since construction began in the summer.

In June, @properties agent Elizabeth August told me that construction on 155 North Aberdeen would be completed this fall, so we'll have to wait another couple of months to see if that goal is met. The building was designed by Studio Dwell Architects, and it will have two- to three-bedroom condos with two to three baths each, and the homes are priced from the $470s to the $950s.

- Rate and review 155 North Aberdeen at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Although it looks pretty close to completion in this one-month-old photo, Tony Madonia of @properties says that construction won't be completed on Kimball Station until March or April of 2009. Madonia hopes to open a furnished model in the building, located at 4720 N Kimball Ave in Albany Park, by the end of the year.

Madonia says Kimball Station is one of the more contemporary buildings in Albany Park, and he particularly likes the quartz countertops in the kitchens and porcelain bathroom tiles. The building is located across the street from the Brown Line's Kimball Station, the last station on that line, and as Andy Anderson wrote last year, living near the Kimball Station would almost guarantee you a seat for the morning commute.

Fifteen of the 59 Kimball Station's condos are under contract, according to Madonia, and the rest are available in one- to three-bedroom floor plans. One-bedrooms are priced from the $200s, two-bedrooms are priced from the $250s and three-bedrooms start in the $350s, he says.

- Rate and review Kimball Station at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Mark wrote in early September that a model could open at 31st and Indiana Development's Signature Residences sometime this fall. Sure enough, we received an e-blast this afternoon promoting a model grand-opening for Friday.

Seven homes at the 36-unit mixed-use building at 207 E 31st St in Bronzeville are under contract, according to an updated price sheet from marketing manager Michelle Mark. Prices are just as Mark reported last month: Two 650 square-foot one-bedrooms are priced in the $150s and $160s, two-bedrooms ranging from 950 to 1,375 square feet are priced from the $220s to the low $310s, and 1,300 to 1,700 square-foot three-bedrooms are priced from the $280s to the $380s.

According to the project's Web site, the larger and more expensive two- and three-bedrooms face north, with balconies overlooking 31st Street and Dunbar Park, while the one-bedrooms and smaller two- and three-bedrooms are on the building's southern side.

Monthly assessments covering water, common insurance, exterior maintenance and snow removal range from roughly $130 to $340 per month. Parking is an additional $7,500 for an outdoor space and $15,000 for a heated indoor space.

Deliveries should begin at The Signature Residences in spring 2009.

- Rate and review The Signature Residences at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Crain's reports this afternoon that architect Santiago Calatrava has halted his work on The Chicago Spire, claiming that Shelbourne Development owes him $11.34 million. The Perkins & Will architecture firm has filed a $4.85 million lien against both Shelbourne and Calatrava's Festina Lente Ltd, and says it has not worked on the project since mid-June.

The story points out that "liens aren't always a sign of trouble, as they can result from contract disputes, but they can be red flags indicating that a developer is having trouble paying its bills."

- Rate and review The Chicago Spire at NewHomeNotebook.com.

In times like these, we expect to scratch proposals off our high-rise list, not add new projects to it, but it looks like one new development is nearing approval in River North.

This rendering from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture has been floating around the Web for a while, and we're finally starting to hear some details about the project itself. LG Development Group, the same team behind the recently announced Row2750 townhouses in Lincoln Park, plans to build this 28-story high-rise at 111 W Chestnut St, near the southern edge of the Gold Coast. The project will be presented to the Plan Commission today, according to the Chicago Journal.

A marketing brochure (PDF) on LG's Web site says the tower's "single-family skyhomes" will have an average unit size of 2,800 square feet, "ample outdoor space," and on-site amenities like "a fitness center, private parking and a private concierge."

The brochure says the tower will have 49 units, but a Planning Department representative quoted in the Journal describes it as having 59 units, 83 parking spaces on four levels including one level below grade, and a 7,800 square-foot green roof. The article also says LG will landscape space next to an adjacent alley with trees and shrubs and will generate $2.5 million for the city's Affordable Housing Opportunity fund and $1.6 million for Adopt-a-Landmark program in exchange for density bonuses.

The Journal story focuses on the split among Near North Side residents over the project. The building most likely will cast a shadow over Washington Square Park, and it's going up just a couple blocks away from other high-profile, high-density projects like The Elysian, Ten East Delaware and Walton on the Park, all of which are still under construction and could put a strain on "the area's already-taxed infrastructure."

What's that? Could it be a little bit of red trim peeking through the scaffoling screen now masking the front of Mod?

You can also see the solid, cream-colored wall is up on the building's western side, covering the bare, canary-yellow panels that we had seen for weeks. The wall has no windows, probably because a second, similar structure is slated to abut this one at some point in the near future. Until then, this blank face will be the first thing most people see when they approach the project from the west.

We'll keep driving past Mod, located at 1222 W Madison St in the West Loop, and will report back when we can get a good look at the building's facade.

- Rate and review Mod at NewHomeNotebook.com.

While I was busy shooting video, Joe Zekas took a few colorful photos from Vetro's seventh-floor amenities deck yesterday. This view to the north shows CMK Companies' 235 Van Buren, where it looks like construction has reached about five stories above the parking garage.

As I noted in a recent post, 235 Van Buren has an especially large parking garage to serve the 714-unit building. At full height, the building will have 47 stories, and it is scheduled for completion in early 2009. One- to three-bedroom homes in 235 Van Buren building are currently priced from the $190s to the $550s.

This wide-angle rendering below shows the building in the context of the skyline. It's an older rendering, so that crane in the foreground might have been for Vetro, which was completed last spring.

- Rate and review 235 Van Buren at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Crews are installing balcony rails at Mondial and have even begun to coat its concrete exterior in a lighter shade of gray, judging from our latest trip to the River West high-rise. (You can see the differences in tone in the picture below.) The parking garage's stairwell has its steps and is now enclosed in glass.

Mondial, 900 W Huron St, will comprise 142 one- to four-bedroom condos over 15 stories when complete. We toured the building with developer Jack Berger prior to Mondial's topping-off in early September. You can view video of our tour on the YoChicago YouTube channel.

- Rate and review Mondial at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Crews appear to have poured the roof of Trio's tower, located at 670 W Wayman St in the Fulton River District. The final phase of RDM Development's condominium project is set to deliver this spring. Homes there range from one-bedrooms starting in the $240s to two-bedroom penthouses priced at $1.4 million.

- Rate and review Trio at NewHomeNotebook.com.

It's often difficult to envision a completed building when looking at a cement skeleton, and New West Realty's 1555 Wabash in the South Loop is no different. With the addition of some glass on the lower residential floors I was hoping to get a better idea of how this building will turn out, but I'm still having a tough time reconciling this structure with the glass box seen in the rendering.

I'm always impressed with artists' ability to take a little creative license and sneak the Sears Tower into renderings where it doesn't belong, but this one (below) is particularly egregious. In this rendering it looks like the Sears is east of Wabash - a full seven blocks from where it stands at 233 S Wacker St. It looks like it could be on Michigan Avenue, and the AT&T Building is even further east.

I understand the iconic status of the Sears and its importance to the Chicago skyline, but to anyone familiar with the city, this rendering could give the impression that 1555 Wabash is more than a half mile from where it's actually located.

- Rate and review 1555 Wabash at NewHomeNotebook.com.