The city agreed to sell six lots for $1 each to Shorebank Development Corp., which ultimately withdrew its offer. "We had a hard time making the numbers work," recalls 4th Ward Ald. Toni Preckwinkle.

However, Construction Trades Associates will build 36 three-bedroom condominiums on land at 4800-06 S. St. Lawrence Ave., 4950-56 S. Champlain Ave. and 600-14 E. 50th St., bringing rare market-rate units into an area bypassed by such development, with four units being set aside for buyers qualifying under the city's affordable housing program.

The market-rate units will range from $210,000 to $289,000, while the affordable units will be priced at $198,000, according to Audrey Mathis of the department of planning and development. Delaware Place Bank has agreed to finance the $7.9-million, she reports.

Construction Trade Associates was the only bidder to respond to the department of planning and development's request for proposals, which sought a minimum of $200,000 for five lots. Construction Trade Associates opted on four lots, but the $116,000 is slightly higher than what the city hoped to receive, Mathis says.

"They have designed some of the finest infill housing in my ward," Preckwinkle says.