Michael and Angelique Parker of St. Charles are proud parents of seven children, six of whom are grown and out of the house. Their seventh is still 13 years old, but they are wasting no time in preparing for their empty-nest years.

"We've been thinking about this for three years," Michael Parker said.

About two months ago, they scouted out Chicago's Printers Row neighborhood in the South Loop and immediately decided to purchase a condominium unit in Printers Corner, a 17-floor building to be constructed at Polk and Wells Streets. They will use it as a secondary residence for weekends until their youngest goes off to college.

"The neighborhood has a lot of appeal for us, with the old Dearborn Station, and we also wanted a building with a limited number of units" for a feeling of intimacy, Parker said.

Printers Corner will have only 88 units, and all will have corner views because of its creative design. Affordability and proximity to downtown were also draws for the Parkers. One-bedroom units start at $275,000, two-bedrooms at $350,000.

The South Loop may be known as a magnet for hip young things and single professionals, but the area has been increasingly attracting a more diverse group of buyers, including suburban empty nesters and young families.

The changing demographics of the area, along with the tapping out of loft buildings available for residential conversions, is contributing to the South Loop's new construction boom that's producing both loft-like and traditional condominium styles.

"Fifty percent of our [South Loop] buyers are suburban buyers," said Jim Colella, general manager of Garrison Partners Inc., a Chicago residential real estate marketing company. "They are probably the largest growth market right now; it's not just the young kids anymore."

Garrison Partners represents several new-construction condominium developments, including Aristocrat Tower and Chess Lofts, at Cullerton and Prairie Streets, and Printers Corner.

In this year's first quarter the South Loop was the most active downtown neighborhood in new project developments, according to a report by Appraisal Research Counselors, of Chicago.

The report states that about 44 percent of first-quarter downtown sales occurred in the South Loop. Approximately 1,300 condominium units are planned for completion in the South Loop during 2006, according to Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research.

Total downtown sales of 1,850 new units were 20 percent higher than during the record-breaking first quarter of 2005.

Lissner also reported that South Loop properties currently on the market range between $270 and $600 per square foot, with 80 percent falling between $300 and $400 per square foot.

Colella said the new South Loop developments are playing off the success of Central Station, a large-scale redevelopment project at the southern end of Grant Park that began in 1990. Central Station has served as the anchor for the revitalization of historic Prairie Street and the greater South Loop.

Unlike Central Station, whose most famous resident is Mayor Richard Daley, Chess Lofts and Aristocrat Tower are considered affordable, with one-bedroom units starting in the high $100,000s.