Reform may bring relief from faulty home appraisals

The Home Front

08/04/2010

With home foreclosures and short sales dotting every Chicago-area neighborhood and suburb, homeowners who are paying their mortgages on time are scratching their heads and wondering what their house really is worth.
Read more...

Docs take to the small screen

07/28/2010

Web Extra! Slideshow
With his glitzy roster of elite clientele from Chicago and around the world, Dr. Leon Forrester Tcheupdjian is the self-proclaimed king of liposuction. A forerunner in field of cosmetic surgery since the 1970s, Tcheupdjian has brought numerous surgical and non-surgical techniques to the country that loves to nip, tuck and augment their troubles away. With his daughter and head nurse Leslie Forrester by his side, the pair are Chicago’s own "Plastic Royalty." At least that’s how NBC felt earlier this year when they signed up the twosome for a reality television show shepherded by Towers Productions.
Read More...

Upswell in Chicago foreclosure filings

More mortagees saying 'they are done' with condo units

07/28/2010

A study released last week by the research and policy group Woodstock Institute states that condominium foreclosures made an unsettling climb in the first half of 2010. According to the report, new foreclosure filings on condominiums in the city grew by 38 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period last year.
Read more...

Barista champ works down the block

Intelligentsia’s Michael Phillips takes 2010 coffee crown

07/28/2010

Michael Phillips, the assistant director of education at Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, realized he wanted to make a career in coffee several years ago while he was living in Minneapolis.
Read More...

Field fight continues in court and in public debate

Heart of the 'hood

07/28/2010

It’s hard to believe it, but the Lincoln Park soccer field controversy continues to reverberate. Considering that members of Protect Our Parks (POP) met through my writing about the field, I thought I’d give you a heads up that POP president Herb Caplan will be on his soapbox on Saturday, sometime after 2:30 p.m., at the Bughouse Square Debates in Washington Square Park at Walton and Dearborn.
Read More...

Rescues of the week

07/28/2010

Hoppy is a happy, 1-year-old white and brown tabby. Naturally inquisitive, Hoppy loves meeting new people and is very social. Hoppy gets along with other cats and even some dogs!
Read More...

Lagrange to retire, firm files Chapter 11

Architect changed the face of the Near North Side

07/21/2010

Lucien Lagrange, the Chicago-based architect whose designs are imprinted on a slew of high-profile buildings on the Near North Side, has announced his retirement following his firm’s recent filing for bankruptcy. Lucien Lagrange Architects petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 14. The firm - whose design portfolio includes the 40-story Ritz-Carlton Residences, 625 N. Michigan, 65 E. Goethe and restoration work on the Hard Rock Hotel, 230 N. Michigan - listed between $1 million and $10 million in both assets and debts.
Read More...

Downzones for Cedar Hotel, CBS building

Reilly: Plans no longer viable

07/21/2010

A pair of zoning amendments pushed by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) will close the book on plans for two properties in the Gold Coast and Streeterville. Reilly petitioned the city council’s Committee on Zoning to withdraw "planned developments" - ordinances governing the large-scale development projects - for the former Cedar Hotel property at 1112 N. State and the old CBS building at 335 E. Erie and 630 N. McClurg.
Read more...

Transformers 3 filiming on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

A real transformation

07/21/2010

Web Extra! Slideshow
Chicagoans are getting a preview of Transformers 3 as scenes are filmed this month downtown.
Read More...

Dearborn Garden Walk photos

07/21/2010

Web Extra! More photos
Large courtyard gardens were the main spectacle at the Dearborn Garden Walk last Sunday.
Read More...