In this season of extreme markdowns, everybody is offering closeout prices—including the developers of two South Side real-estate projects. The McKinley Park Lofts and Jazz on the Boulevard, a condo and townhouse complex in Bronzeville, have both seen sales slow down dramatically, so the last blocks of units are going up for auction next week....

" /> In this season of extreme markdowns, everybody is offering closeout prices—including the developers of two South Side real-estate projects. The McKinley Park Lofts and Jazz on the Boulevard, a condo and townhouse complex in Bronzeville, have both seen sales slow down dramatically, so the last blocks of units are going up for auction next week....

" /> In this season of extreme markdowns, everybody is offering closeout prices—including the developers of two South Side real-estate projects. The McKinley Park Lofts and Jazz on the Boulevard, a condo and townhouse complex in Bronzeville, have both seen sales slow down dramatically, so the last blocks of units are going up for auction next week....

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Housing Bulletin: Auction Bargains and a New Web Site


In this season of extreme markdowns, everybody is offering closeout prices—including the developers of two South Side real-estate projects. The McKinley Park Lofts and Jazz on the Boulevard, a condo and townhouse complex in Bronzeville, have both seen sales slow down dramatically, so the last blocks of units are going up for auction next week….

Housing Bulletin: Our Second-Annual Turkey Roundup

Although it’s been a painful year in the real-estate market, there has been some news this week to make us all thankful: the announcement that the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will not pursue any more foreclosures until January 2009, and the Federal Reserve’s plan, unveiled Tuesday morning, to buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets to help stabilize the economy and the housing sector.

Even so, we have a tradition here at Deal Estate—dating all the way back to last year—of serving up a platter of turkeys…

On the Market: In Lake View, a Brewster Building Condo

List Price: $265,000
The Property: This two-bedroom condo, nicely renovated in the past year and a half, is on the third floor of one of the city’s most distinctive 19th-century residential buildings, The Brewster. Situated at the northwest corner of Pine Grove Avenue and Diversey Parkway and originally known as the…

Housing Bulletin: The Expanding Impact of the Housing Crisis

Two recent reports from expert analysts of the Chicago housing scene shed new light on the impact of the recent troubles affecting the local residential real-estate market. One report shows that renters of high-end apartments are benefiting from the downtown condo glut, while the other indicates that the foreclosure wave is sweeping into Latino neighborhoods after initially hitting African American neighborhoods hardest…

On the Market: B. J. Armstrong’s Highland Park Home

List Price: $2,802,500
The Property: The retired NBA star B. J. Armstrong has owned this six-bedroom house on a secluded street in Highland Park for 14 years, during which time he played for the Bulls and three other teams, worked in the Bulls’ front office, and provided commentary for a TV sports show. He listed the residence for sale late this past summer with an asking price of $2.95 million; in late October he cut the price to…

Some Potential Condo Deals—and a Turkey Call

Downtown developers aren’t the only ones troubled by a drastic downturn in condo sales.
Many suburban developers are also struggling to unload condo inventory. In Lombard (at 310 South Main Street), one developer is offering 18 condos at auction later this month—and the terms of the auction suggest a handful of buyers could walk away with bargain-basement…