August 19, 2008 - This past Saturday marked the topping off of the Trump Tower in Chicago. After three years of construction, 92 floors and 720 million pounds of concrete, the body of the high-rise is complete except for the spire, which will be added before the end of the year. Trump Tower now holds the title of largest concrete-reinforced building in North America.

McHugh Construction, the firm which built Trump Tower, used a piece of equipment called a Putzmeister 1400 to pump the equivalent of 20,000 truck loads of concrete up floor by floor, according to an article in the Tribune detailing the event. Without that pump, construction on the 92 floors would have taken much longer. Using so much concrete as opposed to steel not only reduced cost but also allowed for more windows and will help minimize wind effect on the tower. But even with that modern method, McHugh still followed the traditional ritual of hand lifting the last bucket of concrete to the top, complete with a flag. Following Saturday’s celebration, the crew will hold another one today for the managers and engineers, ahead of a formal ceremony planned for the end of next month.

With the structural construction wrapping up, Trump is now offering an additional 14 condos available for purchase at this Chicago real estate development. No word yet on price, but these new units are listed on the building website and have one bedroom, one and a half baths and are located between floors 72 and 85. There is some speculation that these new Chicago condos were actually the result of splitting up some of the two bedroom units that haven’t sold. In any case, these Chicago New Construction Condos may have a better chance of selling if the price is right.

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August 15, 2008 - Another Chicago real estate project that plans to begin closing on units this month is Library Tower. The grand opening is in fact scheduled for today, and developer Lennar still has a number of units available plus there are condos showing up on the secondary market as well. Units currently advertised on the developer site start at $371,900 for a 1,080 square foot one bedroom, one bath and from $421,900 for a 1,265 square foot two bedroom, two bath unit.

Library Tower is located on South State in Printers Row and takes its name from the Harold Washington Library situated across the street from the high-rise. The Metra Station isn’t far and Michigan Avenue as well as the Theater District are within walking distance of these Chicago condos. The 184 residences come with the standard finishes including a GE stainless steel appliance package, granite counter tops, hardwood flooring, separate tub and shower in the master baths, gas fireplace and balcony.

Building amenities at Library Tower include a 24 hour doorman, rooftop deck with grilling area, fitness center, business center and dry cleaning service plus additional retail. Deeded indoor heated parking is available.

Printers Row is a vibrant neighborhood, rich in history. The condos at Library Tower may be a good fit if you’ve always wanted to live in that area. There are also many other Chicago Neighborhoods that have some great deals on new construction homes right now.

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August 14, 2008 - You might not find the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but you can find reduced prices on the remaining condo lofts at Rainbo Village. The Kinetic Condos, located at 4814-4846 North Clark and previously marketed as Kinetic Lofts, are currently priced from $224,900 to $419,900. Back in the early part of this year those same lofts were priced from the $250,000s to the $460,000s. That adds up to about $30,000 to $50,000 in savings depending on the unit.

As anyone interested in this Chicago real estate development probably already knows, Rainbo Village was once a popular skating rink on the outskirts of Andersonville, hence the name of the lofts. The two 5 story low-rise buildings in this phase of the development hold 44 soft lofts each. Theses soft lofts, which are new construction units with traditional loft features, come in 15 different floor plans and one to two bedrooms. Ten foot high ceilings, hardwood flooring, track lighting, stone counter tops and whirlpool tubs are some of the features.

There have been some delays on the delivery of a few of these units, but the third phase of Metropolitan Development Enterprises’ project is still going forward and will consist of a mix of condos, townhomes and duplexes for a total of 127 units in all. And if you want to compare these units to some others on the market, you can check out the Chicago Condo Lofts page to see what else is out there.

Technorati Tags: Kinetic Condos, Chicago condos, Chicago real estate