As was the case last summer, cranes are up all over the City of Chicago.  Most of what is under construction will be rental rather than condominiums.  Most require a heavy monthly outlay.  Some 7,000 rental units are under construction, with somewhere around 3,000 to be completed this year.  Another 4,200 are projected for completion next year.  And I am not even talking about the mammoth developments planned for Goose Island and the vacant no-man's land adjacent to the east of the river from Roosevelt Boulevard down to Chinatown.  The monthly rental rate can hit $4 per square foot in the luxury buildings lining the river in central downtown--that's $8,000 a month for a 2,000 square foot apartment in case you are keeping score.  That's a lot of scratch, but tenants get fabulous common space, with fire pits, gyms, screening rooms, business cubicles, gardens, and saunas.  A single person never has to leave the building or log on to Tinder, which I think is the appeal.

Of course, many people cannot afford such exorbitant monthly rates.  One developer has apparently found  the solution:  Great river views and in-door plumbing.  Just don't sleepwalk.  It's a long way down.