Considering all the challenges that both developers and agents face in the current housing slump, marketing a development with a tiny elevation rendering (below, at right) that scarcely resembles the actual building would seem like an unnecessary handicap, but we still see this kind of thing every day.

When I see cartoony pictures of homes that are selling for upwards of $500,000, I usually want to see if the actual building looks anything like the drab two-dimensional one in the rendering. This morning, I was curious enough about Homer Row that I got in the car and went to take some photos. If those renderings inspire the same curiosity in buyers, maybe the developer is onto something.

Mike Vesole from @properties says this townhouse development at 2455 - 2459 W Homer St in Bucktown is still under construction, but he hopes to have a model unit open within a week. Two 2,600 square-foot 4-bedroom/ 3.5-bath townhouses in the development are priced in the $490s, he says. The third townhouse has the same number of bedrooms and baths, but has 200 extra square feet of living space and is priced accordingly, in the $540s.

Vesole touts the finishes, saying there are KitchenAid stainless-steel appliances, Unico cabinets, and hardwood floors throughout. Each home also comes with a two-car garage and a private roof deck.

Vesole expects construction on all three townhouses to wrap within three weeks.

Construction is in its final stages at Union Row, the 35-unit townhouse development in East Pilsen. To celebrate the opening of a new model, Belgravia Group will host a grand opening "spooktacular" event on Saturday and Sunday.

"We have a ton of community members that will be participating in the event," says Carmen Krushas, director of marketing for Belgravia Group. She says a number of nearby business from Halsted Street in University Village will be contributing door prizes and giveaways.

"It's really more of a community than when it was just a construction site," Krushas adds.

"We've done about 80 percent of the site work," says Belgravia Vice President Zev Salomon. "If we’re lucky, all of the exterior stuff will be done by the end of November."

Krushas says that 13 of the 35 townhouses are still available, including at least one unit from every floor plan. They range from about 2,300 square feet to 2,900 square feet and start in the $530s. The largest homes are also the most abundant: Five four bedroom / four bath units are priced from the $690s to the $720s.

At least four of the 13 homes are available for immediate delivery. Buyers will be able to select finishes and customize the others.

- Rate and review Union Row at NewHomeNotebook.com.

One thing is certain: These high-end townhouses at 1025 N Dearborn St in the Gold Coast were not completed by Spring 2008, as the @properties listings indicate.

This development managed to fly under the radar until this summer, when it was added to NewHomeNotebook.com. I had never seen the place in person and wanted a better perspective than the miniature photos on the MLS, so I took a pass by the Gold Coast this morning to check it out. At the site, I found that drywall still isn't up in many places, and the stairwells are composed of unfinished two-by-fours and plywood.

The Smithfield Properties Web site doesn't have anything on this development, but it is located right next door to 30 West Oak, Smithfield's high-rise at the corner of Oak and Dearborn. In fact, some old models of 30 West Oak showed it next to a smaller low-rise, which looked pretty similar to 1025 North Dearborn.

Despite the unfinished status of the building, "Only 2 homes remain!" according to the sign in front.

An MLS search does in fact find just two homes in the development. The smaller of the two is a four-bedroom / 4.5-bath townhouse with 4,856 square feet of living space that's priced at $1.84 million, and the larger one is a massive 6,228 square-foot home with five bedrooms and 5.5 baths that's priced at $3.25 million.

CORRECTION: I just spoke with @properties agent Anne Victorin, who says that people are in fact living in the building, and that it was completed earlier this year. Victorin says the homes that face Dearborn are sold, but they're still under construction, which is what I saw through the windows.

- Rate and review 1025 Dearborn at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Mark spent some time in Lincoln Park this morning and brought back a picture of the southwest corner of Diversey Parkway and Lakewood Avenue, where construction on LG Development Group's Row2750 is slated to begin in just a few weeks. The rendering below will give you an idea of how the nine townhouses and two duplex condos are supposed to fit into the surrounding neighborhood.

Not too long ago, Diversey and Lakewood was a kind of a "confection intersection": Although it's official address is 2750 N Lakewood Ave, Row2750 essentially replaces the old Hostess Wonder Bread Bakery at 1301 W Diversey Pkwy, and the neighboring Peerless Confection factory was demolished this winter.

Developer Brian Goldberg says his company got special zoning on the project due to its location in an old manufacturing district, allowing LG to "go wider and higher than usual" with the units. Most of the townhouses will have 3,000 to 4,000 square feet - spread out over four stories, judging by the rendering below - and will be 22.5 to 23 feet wide instead of 18 or 19 feet, he says.

Row2750's nine townhouses range from $1.19 million to $1.39 million. One three-bedroom duplex with 2,972 square feet is priced in the $990s, and a two-bedroom duplex with 1,791 square feet is listed in the $690s.

Goldberg says construction should begin in October, with deliveries following sometime in the summer of 2009.

- Rate and review Row2750 at NewHomeNotebook.com.

There's a seemingly endless supply of new-construction condos in the West Loop right now, and with the completion of 565 Quincy, R+D659, Trio, Mod and Catalyst (maybe), that part of the city will be up to its ears in new condos. If you're in the market for a townhouse though, you might have to look a bit further.

In fact, the only townhouse development I've been able to find in the West Loop is Van Buren Townhomes, a development of six towhouses at 914 - 924 W Van Buren St that I discovered while cruising around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. A quick look at New Home Notebook reveals that a buyer would have to travel west all the way to 2200 W Madison St or south to Union Row at 1600 S Union Ave in Pilsen for the next closest townhouse development.

According to RE/MAX Northern Illinois agent Mac Dubose, these six four-story townhouses all have three bedrooms with dens and 2.5 baths, and they all measure about 2,253 square feet, according to the development's Web site. Dubose says they were originally priced in the $800s, but the developer has since "re-evaluated the market" and brought the prices down to the $720s for all of them. She also suggests that at least a couple of the townhouses could be rented.

Each unit comes with a private 1.5-car garage and a roof deck. Dubose says the units were supposed to be ready by the first of October, but some work is still being done on plumbing and water pipes, so they probably won't be ready until later in the fall. Below are a couple of photos from the development's Web site.

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

In the final installment of my three-part list of Chicago's townhouse projects, I turn to the West, Southwest, and South sides of the city. There, most of the townhouses you'll find are part of large, mixed-income community projects that combine public housing with market-rate homes, although a few developments appear to be more of the smaller-scale infill variety.

Buyers who don't mind a long drive from downtown can find two-bedroom townhouses for as low as the $200s in Washington Heights or three-bedrooms starting in the $260s in West Elsdon. The most expensive homes on the South Side are found at Lake Park Crescent in North Kenwood-Oakland (above), where four-bedrooms start in the $690s, and in Bridgeport, where the biggest three-bedroom remaining at 33rd Street Square is priced in the $670s.

Unlike a lot of the homes on my prior townhouse lists, these developments have their share of question marks. A lot of these projects are stuck in their first phases, and although they have space to expand, they aren't exactly booming with activity. Others are still in the marketing phase could have a hard time seeing the light of day.

Are you familiar with any of the following projects? Click the "rate and review" link next to any of them to post your thoughts on NewHomeNotebook.com.

Bridgeport:

• 33rd Street Square, 510 W 33rd St: Three three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $550s to the $670s (Rate and review)

Bronzeville:

• Park Boulevard, 47 W 35th St: Two- to four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $400s (Rate and review)

Calumet Heights:

• Arbor Park Townhomes, 2400 E 95th St: Two-bedroom townhouses priced from the $260s (Rate and review)

East Beverly:

• Beverly Place, 1824 W 103rd St: 28 two- to four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $410s to the $570s (Rate and review)

The Gap:

• Eastgate Village, 2800 S King Dr: Two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $470s to the $620s (Rate and review)
• Landmark Square (Phase II), 245 E 33rd St: Five three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $460s to the $470s (Rate and review)

Kenwood:

• McGill Parc Townhomes, 4926 S Drexel Blvd: 10 four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $490s (Rate and review)
• Parc View Place, 836 S 48th St: Nine three- to five-bedroom townhouses priced from the $380s to the $590s (Rate and review)

Lawndale:

• Heritage Homes, 801 S Kedzie Ave: Two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $310s (Rate and review)

McKinley Park:

• McKinley Gardens, 3238 S Western Ave: 69 three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $270s to the $380s (Rate and review)
• McKinley Park Manor II, 3803 S Hermitage Ave: 16 three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $350s (Rate and review)
• McKinley Park Village, 3600 S Western Ave: 134 two- to four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $300s to the $420s (Rate and review)

North Kenwood-Oakland:

• Arches at Oakwood Shores, 3744 S Cottage Grove Ave: 32 two-bedroom townhouses priced from the $370s (Rate and review)
• Drexel Square Townhomes, 4450 S Drexel Blvd: Nine three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $420s (Rate and review)
• Lake Park Crescent, 4022 S Oakenwald Ave: Four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $690s. (Rate and review)

Washington Heights:

• Renaissance at Beverly Ridge, 10500 S Vincennes Ave: 50 three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $200s (Rate and review)

West Elsdon:

• 53rd & Millard, 3601 W 53rd St: 34 three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $260s (Rate and review)
• Park Place Homes, 3630 W 51st St: Two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $290s (Rate and review)

- See our list of Loop / downtown townhouses.
- See our list of North Side townhouses.

After spending a few minutes compiling townhouses for my "everything but downtown" list, I started to realize that I needed to break everything down a little further. To that end, I've decided to split that list into two: one documenting all the townhouse projects on the North, Far North and Northwest sides (everything North of North Avenue, in other words), and one documenting all the projects on the West, Southwest and South sides (everything else, basically).

All of the townhouses that top $1 million are in Lincoln Park, and they're limited to two newly announced projects: the Montana Rowhomes, five three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.19 million to $1.49 million, and Row2750, nine four-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.19 million to $1.39 million. Not surprisingly, a lot of the least expensive townhouses - the $290,000 three-bedroom homes at the Enclave at Galewood Crossings - are in far-flung North Austin, but at least one three-bedroom at 1800 N Spaulding Ave in Humboldt Park is selling in the $290s as well.

The neighborhoods seeing the most townhouse activity, at least in terms of the number of separate projects under development, are Lincoln Park (which, along with the aforementioned Montana Rowhomes and Row 2750, is also home to Hartland Park II) and along the river in Avondale and West Lakeview (where Bankside, Cornelia Court, Fletcher Row, La Riviere and Rivers Edge are all underway).

Avondale:

• Cornelia Court, 3009 W Cornelia Ave: Nine two- to four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $470s to the $650s (Rate and review)
• La Riviere Row Homes, 2825 N Oakley Ave: 15 four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $980s (Rate and review)
• Rivers Edge, 2801 N Oakley Ave: 11 three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $670s to the $690s (Rate and review)

Humboldt Park:

• 1800 North Spaulding, 1800 N Spaulding Ave: Three-bedroom townhouses priced in the $290s (Rate and review)

Jefferson Park:

• Dunning Courtes, 4137 N Narragansett Ave: Nine three-bedrooms townhouses priced from the $450s to the $520s (Rate and review)

Lincoln Park:

• Hartland Park II, 2649 N Hermitage Ave: Five four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $890s to the $980s (Rate and review)
• Montana Rowhomes, 1000 W Montana St: Five three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.19 million to $1.49 million (Rate and review)
• Row2750, 2750 N Lakewood Ave: Nine four-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.19 million to $1.39 million (Rate and review)

Logan Square:

• Rowhomes on Stave, 2066 N Stave St: 18 four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $580s to the $620s (Rate and review)

Magnolia Glen:

• Ardmore Academy, 1403 W Ardmore Ave: Five two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $440s to the $610s (Rate and review)

North Austin:

• Enclave at Galewood Crossings, 1850 N Laramie Ave: 76 three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $290s to the $360s (Rate and review)

Rogers Park:

• 7345 North Ridge, 7345 N Ridge Blvd: 16 three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $450s (Rate and review)

West Lakeview:

• Bankside, 2951 N Oakley Ave: 33 three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $550s to the $900s (Rate and review)
• Fletcher Row (Phase I), 2456 W Fletcher St: Six three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $520s to the $890s (Rate and review)

West Ridge:

• 9 North Townhomes, 7201 N Oakley Ave: Three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $390s to the $450s (Rate and review)
• Sacramento Square, 6320 N Sacramento Ave: 30 three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $380s (Rate and review)

In response to Emen's request, here are a few photos I just took of Union Row in the 600 block of West 16th Street in East Pilsen. Just as Emen said, the townhouses on the west end of the development, near the Dan Ryan Expressway, look much brighter today than they did in my photos from June. In fact, Union Row is so bright, it even outshines the rendering Belgravia Group released earlier this year.

Below are a few more photos of construction at Union Row, most of which is located east of Jefferson Street, I believe. As Joe wrote earlier this morning, Union Row's remaining townhouses are priced from the $540s to the $700s.

- Rate and review Union Row at NewHomeNotebook.com.

They go by many names: townhomes, rowhomes, attached single-families. I prefer the catch-all "townhouses" for this type of multi-story home, the kind of units that is more than a duplex condo but still shares a structure and a lot with other homes.

In the Loop / downtown area (a region we define as the area bounded by Lake Michigan, Western Avenue, the Stevenson Expressway and North Avenue), we've come across six developments where townhouses are for sale. Not surprisingly, the $1 million-plus homes are in two of downtown's highest-profile areas: the wealthy Gold Coast neighborhood, and the Lakeshore East mega-development on the New East Side.

According to Yo posts and our NewHomeNotebook.com database, the least expensive homes are on the western fringes of downtown, where a couple of 2200 Madison's 18 townhouses are still for available for below $400,000. Homes everywhere else appear to start around the mid-$400s and work their way up. Not counting the aforementioned Gold Coast homes, the only four-bedroom townhouses available in the area are those at Belgravia Group's Union Row (pictured above), where prices top out in the $700s.

What do you think about these (down)townhouses ? Click on "Rate and review" to post your thoughts on NewHomeNotebook.com.

East Pilsen:

• Union Row, 1600 S Union Ave: 10 three- and four-bedroom townhouses priced from the $540s to the $700s (Rate and review)

Gold Coast:

• Townhomes of Distinction, 1003 - 1017 N Dearborn St: Two four- and five-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.85 million to $3.25 million (Rate and review)

Near West Side:

• 2200 Madison, 2200 W Madison St: Two three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $370s to the $390s (Rate and review)

New East Side:

• Parkhomes at Lakeshore East, 430 E Waterside St: 15 three-bedroom townhouses priced from $1.6 million to $2.5 million (Rate and review)

Old Town

• Parkside of Old Town, 465 W Division St: 72 two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $490s to the $750s (Rate and review)

University Village:

• Roosevelt Square, 1200 W Roosevelt Rd: 38 two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $430s to the $970s (Rate and review)
• Ivy Hall at University Village, 1440 S Halsted St: 31 two- and three-bedroom townhouses priced from the $550s (Rate and review)

Keep an eye out for another list compiling all of the townhouse projects on the North, Far North, Northwest, West, Southwest and South sides.

Fletcher Row has already been around for quite a while. Sales manager Jim Nykaza has been working on the project for about eight months, and marketing began at least a year prior to his arrival. (Indeed, looking back through our archives, Yo writers were mentioning the project as early as June 2006.)

Should it come as a surprise then that in that span only two of the 10 units in Phase I have sold and that contracts are being negotiated for two more? Perhaps, but Bluestar Development doesn't seem to be discouraged by the slow sales. Nykaza says that construction on the 10 units in Phase II will start as soon as he sells a couple more units.

Price points on the remaining three- and four-bedroom townhouses from Phase I are from the $520s to the $890s. The least expensive unit is a 2,179 square-foot three-bedroom / 3.5-bath unit, and the most expensive is a 2,444 square-foot four-bedroom / 3.5-bath unit.

- Rate and review Fletcher Row at NewHomeNotebook.com.