Chicago

CHICAGO-Work has begun on redeveloping over 100 acres of the enormous former U.S. Steel South Works in Chicago. The site will be home to a new Solo Cup factory by 2004; a lakefront park is also under way nearby.

CHICAGO-Mortgage Bankers Association of America members hold sway over "tens of billions of dollars of insurance premiums," says Robert Vestewig, chief operating officer of Houston-based GEMSA Loan Services, which might influence the industry to adopt standardized certificates of insurance.

CHICAGO-The 325 units at 2520 N. Lakeview Ave. will start at $1.4 million, setting a new high-water mark for the Lincoln Park condominium market when sales are expected to begin in 2006. The property has been under contract for more than a year.

CHICAGO-The recession is just the latest threat to regional malls' health that has been beaten back, says Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group chief executive officer David Simon, joining mail-order, big-boxes and the Internet.

SCHAUMBURG, IL-Nearly 50,000 sf of space is claimed in new lease deals, but they involve companies staying put or moving from one northwest suburb to another, keeping submarket vacancy well above 20%.

CHICAGO-A 69-story building would replace a parking lot at 111 W. Wacker Dr. with 320,000 sf of office space and 240 condominiums. The corner of Wacker and Clark Street has been undeveloped for more than 30 years.

CHICAGO-Add the south suburb to a list that already includes Rockford and Waukegan seeking to lure the riverboat casino some still believe is headed to northwest suburban Rosemont despite the Illinois Gaming Board's taking back the 10th license from Emerald Casino, Inc.

CHICAGO-No homeowners would be displaced, nor additional parcels acquired under a tax increment financing proposal for an area between the 4100 blocks of Drexel Boulevard and Cottage Grove Avenue.