The six projects recommended for approval include more than 1,000 condominium and rental units, hitting price points ranging from Section 8 rental to $1-million condominium units. Besides continuing multifamily development on the Near North and Near South Sides, the developments also extend to the South and Northwest Sides.

Projects include:

* A 452-unit apartment building on the Braun Bottles site at the northwest corner of Fulton and Canal streets.

* A $50-million, 197-unit condominium project at 2240 W. Diversey Ave.

* A $50-million, 121-unit development at 201-09 W. Grand Ave., which would include a new building as well as renovation of an existing three-story building at the site.

* A $40-million, 162-unit condominium and townhouse project at 1600-16 S. Prairie Ave., across railroad tracks from Soldier Field.

* A $26-million, 204-unit rental development at S. Martin Luther King Drive and E. 26th Street, with 25% of the units set aside for former residents of a Chicago Housing Authority public housing project being razed on the site.

* A 38-unit townhome component in a development at 1740 W. Wrightwood Ave., part of a project that includes 24 single-family homes.Pending city council approval, necessary permits and construction, the units will be coming on line in late 2003 into 2004. Most have financing in place; in the case of the 452-unit apartment building, developers are confident they will have lenders competing to fund a rare multifamily rental project."There's a shortage of opportunities to invest in multifamily (rental) properties in Chicago," says developer Robert Berliner, whose proposed project is surrounded by new condominium buildings.