last october, we reported on the progress of seven high-rise apartment buildings under construction in downtown chicago.  at the time we issued that report, the shiny new lexington park high-rise condominium project was just that: a condominium project.  but now it's going rental, which means the numbers have changed.  this year and next, eight new towers will add nearly 3,150 apartment units to the market.  the census folks say chicago is shrinking, but it sure doesn't feel that way to us here at domu, particularly considering that so many other apartment developments are queued up and fixin’ to move forward.

in addition to the eight projects coming soon, site preparation is now underway for two new apartment towers (360 west hubbard and 200 east illinois), while still two others appear to be in the final stages of planning and approval (73 east lake and 410 east grand). then there’s three more that have been credibly proposed, but which remain a long way away. (many other projects have been bandied about, but none of these seem, at least to us, either credible or imminent enough to merit discussion at this point.)

so here’s our peek at what’s in the pipeline for chicago renters.

completed and nearly ready for renters

• 2138 south indiana avenue. originally built as a condominium, ownership of the building changed hands, pending contracts were canceled, and conversion to rental is nearly complete with leasing expected to commence in mid-april.  the 35-story tower contains 333 apartment units.

already under construction

• 1225 north wells street. construction has “topped out” at this 16-story, 250-unit apartment building on the near north side, and leasing is expected to commence in september 2012.

• 188 west randolph street. the apartments on the lower floors of this gutted and rehabbed 313-unit, 45-story skyscraper in the heart of the loop (named “randolph tower”) will reportedly be ready for occupancy by april 2012.

• 840 west blackhawk street. this 22-story, 324-unit apartment tower on the near north side (named “sono”) is nearing completion and leasing is slated to commence in june 2012.

• 345 east wacker drive. this 49-story, 499-unit apartment tower in lakeshore east (named “coast” as part of the developer’s continuing obsession with nautical themes) is now several stories out of the ground, and leasing is projected to commence in february 2013.

• 500 north lake shore drive. this 45-story, 500 unit apartment building in south streeterville near navy pier is now several stories out of the ground, and leasing is slated to commence in may 2013.

• 365 north halsted street. this 33-story, 496-unit apartment tower (named “k2” as part of the digital age obsession with alphanumeric character blends) is now peeking out of the ground in the fulton river district and preparing its vertical ascent. completion is targeted for 2013.

• 71 west hubbard street. construction of this 50-story, 407-unit apartment tower in the heart of river north is reportedly underway, although none of the heavy construction equipment appears to be out yet.

site preparation underway

• 360 west hubbard. the habitat company has begun site preparation at the massive surface parking lot across the street from the east bank club. the plans call for a 43-story tower with 450 apartment units adjacent to an eight-story parking garage topped with swimming pool. other building amenities will include a fitness room, a yoga studio, a club room, a media room, a conference room, a kitchen/bar area, a multi-purpose room, a lounge, a steam room, a sauna, and a whirlpool.

• 200 east illinois. site preparation is underway at the northwest corner of st. clair and illinois streets, and the project in the works -- a sleek, 42-story, glass tower designed by local architect david hovey will contain 325 apartment units above nine floors of parking and 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

so close you can taste it

• 73 east lake street. the approval process is underway for the construction of a 42 story, 332 unit apartment tower at the southeast corner of wabash and lake streets at the northeastern edge of the loop. the developers are planning ground floor retail with parking on floors 2 through 8. if and when this project gets off the ground, the new building be a welcome upgrade to a particularly unsightly corner of the city.

• 410 east grand avenue. revised plans for a 45-story, 490-unit apartment tower at the southeast corner of mcclurg court and grand avenue were recently unveiled at a community meeting in streeterville, and the neighborhood was surprisingly warm to the proposal. we expect this surface parking lot to meet its maker sometime soon.

proposed, but still a long way off

• 1 south halsted street. six months ago, a stunning, elliptical, 48-story, 514-unit apartment tower was being proposed for the west loop between greektown and the expressway. a prominent local community organization was supporting the project, but, since then, there’s been nary a peep in the local press. the developer was anticipating a two-year approval process to be followed by a two-year construction timeline, so, assuming everything remains on track, new apartments probably won’t be delivered until at least 2014.

• columbus & north water streets. a 50-story tower with apartment units above and hotel units below has been proposed for the southern half of the massive undeveloped parcel at illinois and columbus streets between the embassy suites and sheraton hotels in south streeterville. the proposed project remains in the early stages, and ground-breaking is not expected any time soon.

• 111 west wacker drive. before the real estate market came crashing down, waterview tower was 26 floors out of the ground and heading for the top tier of chicago the skyline. had everything gone as planned, it would have been a shangri-la hotel today with hundreds of new condominium units to boot. but we all know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, so once the dust settled it was a cold concrete shell, competing for the title of chicago’s biggest eyesore. it was recently acquired by related midwest, which now plans a 53-story rental building with 500 apartment units.

the whole ball of wax