Something had to be done. After years and years of touting Wicker Park as the next Lincoln Park, no one was buying it any more. Too little had changed in all those years.

What to do? A loosely-knit group of real estate folk stitched together pieces of West Town, Wicker Park and Logan Square and began calling the result Bucktown. People began to believe in Bucktown, and Bucktown came to be.

About a dozen years ago developer Bill Senne – one of the original "barons of Bucktown" – began pioneering "West Bucktown," a newly-minted moniker for stretches of Humboldt Park and Logan Square.

Will the West Bucktown moniker stick? Senne and I banter about the topic in the video above. We'll have more video of my visit with Bill Senne at his Ecologic Lofts development, 2359 N. Seeley Ave.

Check back later for more video of my interview with Bill Senne.

About a month ago, The Brixton Group announced that buyers who signed contracts at CA23 in October would receive a $30,000 allowance that could be used to hire Matt Lorenz, the recent winner of Bravo's Top Design, to help design their new homes. Now, principal Geoff Ruttenburg says The Brixton Group will be extending the offer, probably until January, and they're also giving buyers the option to choose between spending the $30,000 on the Matt Lorenz design package or on a personal trainer.

You read that correctly: The $30,000 can be spent entirely on a personal trainer. Ruttenberg says the deal will get you about two years of personal training, three or four days per week, with a trainer from nearby John Hall Studios. As for the design deal, Ruttenberg says buyers will receive the money from The Brixton Group, and they'll be able to allocate it as they please. So, for example, a buyer could spend just part of the money on consulting with Lorenz, and the rest on furnishings.

I stopped by 23 N Aberdeen St yesterday to check out the construction site, and it looks like the first phase is nearing completion. Most of the windows are in place, and we're beginning to see some of the masonry on the southern portion of the building. Ruttenberg says a model will open in December, and he expects construction to wrap up and deliveries to begin in January.

Twelve two- to four-bedroom homes are still available in Phase I of CA23, and the price points have tightened up slightly to the $650s to $1.45 million.

- Rate and review CA23 at NewHomeNotebook.com.

As a lakeside town that grew around its port, Chicago is firmly anchored in its waterways. These days, it's not uncommon to pass sailors seeing the sights on Michigan Avenue, but a biker in a captain's cap? Riding a fixed-gear with mini handlebars? All I can say is, ya gotta love the West Loop!

The captain rode by yesterday as I was snapping a photo of construction at 155 North Aberdeen, which is shown below, alongside a rendering of the Studio Dwell-designed building.

Elizabeth August from @properties says there are still seven available homes in the 12-unit building at 155 N Aberdeen St: one two-bedroom / two-bath, two three-bedroom / two-bath single-floor units, and four three-bedroom / two-bath duplexes. The homes have between 1,325 and 2,000 square feet of living space and are priced from the $470s to the $880s.

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

It will be big news the moment any "high-rise dustbunnies" start to go up, but it's still possible for a smaller development to break ground and stay below our radar. Such is the case with the Sangamon Street Condominiums, a three-building development with 19 condos that's currently under construction at 100 - 110 S Sangamon St in the West Loop.

Rob Bermes of Century 21 SGR says nine of the homes are already under contract, even though the development hasn't been listed on the MLS, and only one of the buildings appears to be built. The homes range from single-floor units with three bedrooms, two baths and 1,725 square feet to duplexes with four bedrooms, three baths and 3,000 square feet. Prices for the remaining units run from the $560s to $1.39 million.

The top-floor units will have private roof decks, and even though these four-story buildings are relatively short for the West Loop, Bermes expects them to have nice skyline views for a long time. That could have something to do with the new park that's under construction on the adjacent block of West Adams Street, between Peoria and Sangamon.

For a better idea of what the completed buildings will look like, Bermes says to check out the identically designed development at 1254 W Jackson Blvd, where he also has condos for sale. Prices for those units are priced from the $520s to the $680s.

"People are surprised to hear that our clients are cutting back… But in the past year, some have had financial losses in the six figures or have seen falling house values put their property under water…

"We aren't asking our clients to cut back on the bones of the house, like high-quality framing… We're suggesting they switch on items that don't impact their daily life or can be easily replaced in the future."

- Curtis Perlman of Empeco Custom Builders in Vernon Hills, speaking to the Tribune about the desire to cut costs on finishes in new-construction homes. Perlman says the buyers of his single-family homes are now asking to "replace professional-grade appliances with lower-cost ones, cherry hardwood cabinetry with maple stained in cherry, high-end home theater components with less costly components." Replacing Travertine tile with porcelain alone can cut the cost of an 8,000 square-foot suburban single-family by as much as $40,000, he adds.

We get a good laugh every time we hear the "their luxury package is our standard" pitch, as if every builder these days weren't using some combination of hardwood floors, granite countertops, Italian cabinetry, marble bath tile, European fixtures and iPod docks. But is it too much of a stretch to think that developers will start promoting affordable alternatives to the old standby? I can think of two sales centers I've been through recently where model kitchens showcased black or white appliances instead of the stainless-steel variety, so maybe the shift is already underway.

A few well-paced laps can be a great way to start off a day or finish off an evening. Most towers we visit have fitness centers (even if they're just closet-sized rooms with a couple of hand-me-down treadmills or exercise bikes), but not every project has its own swimming pool. For that reason, I've put together a new list on NewHomeNotebook.com compiling all the developments we know of that will have pools on their outdoor terraces (like Michigan Avenue Tower II, seen in the rendering above) or in their indoor amenities levels.

As always, the list is a work-in-progress, so if you take a look at it and notice that something's missing, dive into the comments section below and tell us what we're missing.

- Read our list of projects with pools at NewHomeNotebook.com.

Nothing says "youthful exuberance" like a bunch of kids springing around on trampolines, right? That's the message you get as you drive east along a stretch of Jackson Boulevard in the West Loop, where these four signs stand within about ten feet of one another.

We've seen that fellow in the sunglasses before. He was the star of the ad Joe posted about in September. Now he has some friends, and they're not leaping around just to celebrate their zest for life. Instead, they're jumping for joy over their new one-bedroom-plus-den and three-bedroom / two-bath floor plans.

Sure, most of the ad still focuses on lifestyle, but adding that floor plan sends a message: "Hey, when I'm done jumping around, I'll swap these goofy goggles for reading specs and calculate some square footage!"

- Rate and review VB1224 at NewHomeNotebook.com.

This place always jumps out at me when I'm browsing new-construction listings, partly because it looks like a silo when viewed from the northwest. I usually pause to wonder whether that corner is really as curved as it appears, or whether the MLS photos have been somehow distorted. I took a drive over to 1217 W Augusta Blvd this afternoon to look at it for myself, and I can safely say that that corner is every bit as curved as it seems to be.

Paul Fortman from @properties describes the building, which was designed and developed by Jim Vari of Vari Architects, as a modern and minimalist development with simple, clean lines. A sign in front of the building says that three homes for sale - one single-floor unit and two duplexes - although I only find two for-sale units on the MLS. The two-bedroom / two-bath single-floor unit and one of the three-bedroom / three-bath duplexes are listed for sale on the MLS in the $420s and the $540s, while the other duplex is available to rent for $3,000 per month.

I plan to visit this development with Fortman tomorrow, so check back to see some pictures and video of the building's interior.

At the moment, this block doesn't seem particularly verdant or profitable, but at least one developer looks at this street and sees "green." Be the first to name the neighborhood where this stretch of wasteland can be found and win yourself a YoChicago yo-yo.

The construction elevator that was up 600 Lake Shore Drive's south tower in August has since come down, and Royal Fisher from Belgravia Group says building construction is completed. Fisher says he is continuing to sell homes in both towers at a decent pace, although not quite as fast as before.

"A month ago, we were selling about three a week - now we're down to maybe one a week," Fisher says. "Even still, I think that's better than some others are faring."

Fisher estimates that between 30 and 35 potential buyers visit the sales center each week. "On the weekends we're swamped," he says. "In fact, we have three extra people as support staff that do nothing but show people models in the sales center."

There are just five available homes in the north tower, which was built first, and 80 percent of the homes in the south tower are sold. Fisher says the sales staff is moving the sales center over to the south tower, where four model units will be set up. If you want to get an idea of what the old model units looked like, take a look at the video below that I made with Paul Smith in August. Joe Zekas also shot an interview in late October with the building's architects, George Pappageorge and David Haymes.

Construction workers now are focusing their attention on the land right in front of the lobby facing Lake Shore Drive, which they're trying to finish before the snows come. Fisher says a few 15-foot trees were recently brought in, and a reflecting pool will be installed.

- Rate and review 600 Lake Shore Drive at NewHomeNotebook.com.