From the world of real estate marketing, here’s a novel incentive aimed at young home buyers. Condo developers have been targeting empty nesters with golf course memberships for some time now, and plasma screen TVs seem to be a dime-a-dozen these days, but apparently the new plan for luring Generation Xers into the home-buying market is to offer a free Vespa scooter. Buyers of two-bedroom, two-bathroom condos at The Thrush Companies’ highrise 740 Fulton in the West Loop will receive a trendy Vespa LX50 in a promotion that kicks off this week.

We thought maybe the developer planned to skimp on parking spaces, but apparently that’s not the case. The idea is to get young hipsters thinking of all the cool West Loop art galleries and restaurants they could tool around to on their Vespa if they lived at 740 Fulton, says Michael Hampton, of Garrison Partners, the project’s consultant. The Vespas will also serve as a motorized ad for Thrush – with stickers emblazoned on the scooter. Early feedback from potential buyers? “They think it’s pretty neat”, Hampton tells us.