Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 309

(Chicago (Tribune Sunday, September 19, 1976 Section12 Rental Guide Classified Marketplace it Wolf Point's Mart Plaza hotel nearing completion Flexible loans save 'borderline' home purchasers Real Estate .3 X-? t' 1 Jj Four ficus trees await planting in the Mart Plaza, nearing completion on n't ktii0 V- Ss Tribune Photo oQMntm DM 10-s'tory atrium of the new Holiday Inn Wolf Point. 'J 1V-U test! I Preston Martin: A flexible mortgage makes the most sensejight now. The young people who would be prospective GPM borrowers are becoming a more dominant factor in the housing market. By 1980, 16 per cent of the nation's population will be in the 24- to 35-year-old age group, Martin said. HE ALSO BELIEVES a variation of the GPM could be attractive to older borrowers.

They could pay more at the beginning of their mortgages and less as they hit retirement age. In the not-too-distant" future, Martin predicts, the traditional mortage will be only one of a dozen different types of loans from which home buyers will be able to choose. In effect, he foresees the emergence of a "bionic" mortgage that can be fitted to the needs of individual borrowers. "You take it all apart," he said, "and just like the bionic man, put it together the way you want." Lawmakers sometimes have been less than enthusiastic in allowing lenders to offer alternative mortgage forms. THE VARIABLE RATE mortgage (VRM), which provides for fluctuations in interest rate over the life of a loan coinciding with changes in the cost of money, is an example.

Lenders say the VRM would protect them from the effects of inflation and at the same time promise to moderate interest rates to new borrowers. Congress has thwarted several at" tempts in recent years by the FHLBB to permit federally chartered to offer it, and the Illinois legislature passed a law earlier this year which prohibits VRMs in state. However, Martin says the Brooke bill is one indication of "a changing climate in Congress" and he believes- it's only a matter of time before lawmakers open the door to innovative ways to finance home purchases, They'll act "when the need becomes apparent and he saiH. Chevrolet hopes to be the top-selling diet K- but learns room to. ware goeSzOn first years (nearly $21 under the monthly payment of a traditional $40,000 loan) is very important to them, he added.

"WE'VE HAD A tremendous number of calls from around the country and we've been furnishing details to other savings and loans, so we think there's a trend toward this approach," Schmidt said. Noting that 65 per cent of the nation's families own homes, but fewer than half of the country's young families can qualify for traditional mortgages, Martin declared, "That's shocking. Half of the families who want to get in can't get in." Exclusion of younger buyers from the home market recently prompted Sen. Edward Brooke Mass.) to introduce the Young Families Housing Act. It would empower to offer a GPM whose monthly payments would be determined by a formula tied to the Consumer Price Index.

SUCH MORTGAGES would be insured by the Federal Housing Authority. Another provision of the proposed law applicable only to buyers purchasing their first home would make it easier to save money for a down payment. Prospective home owners would not be taxed on $2,500 of income a year (up to a total of $10,000) provided the money was being saved for a down payment. The concept is similar to one employed In a law that allows banks and savings and loans to offer Individual Retirement Accounts to savers. MARTIN SAID the GPM has some disadvantages for lenders.

Cash flow in the early years of a loan obviously is less than it is under the traditional mortgage and it's a more risky loan because the lender has less equity to recover in a house in case of foreclosure. But Martin believes lenders will be willing to overlook those drawbacks in order to do more business. "We are rapidly getting to the point where it is harder to move real estate because it is getting harder for would-be buyers to get loans," he said. size Autos a new optional trim model called the Sandpiper, featuring special yellow-gold exterior paint inside and out. Chevette's highway fuel economy claim for 1977 is 43 m.p.g.

The Vega Cosworth is discontinued, and eventually the whole Vega line may bite the dust. Chevy general manager Robert Lund said consolidation of sub-compact models is in the cards. With Monza and Vega subcompacts competing with each other and most new body styles slated for Monza, Vega's days seemed to be numbered. An appearance option called Spyder is offered on the '77 Monza. The name was borrowed from a car shown at last year's Chicago Auto Show.

At -next year's show, in February, GM will unveil a new Monza, the Mirage, a car with front air dam, flared fenders, a rear air spoiler, and a 305 cubic inch V-8 aimed at doing battle with the Ford Mustang II Cobra. LITTLE HAS been done to the compact Nova, which awaits major restyling and downsizing in 1979. Front wheel drive and a wagon model will be added then. The intermediate Chevelle series adds new front and rear appearance changes and a 4.1 liter (250 cubic inch) six-cylinder engine as standard equipment. The intermediates are to be restyled and scaled down in 1978.

As for the 1977 Monte Carlo and Corvette, you'll have to settle for such refinements as a new hood ornament on the Monte Carlo, a new crossed-flags emblem on the 'Vette. The new standard size Caprice and Impalas are roughly the same size as the 1964 full size Chevy. They benefit from the weight reduction by featuring a more economical 4.1 liter 250 cubic inch) six-cylinder engine as standard and a smaller 5 liter (305 cubic inch) V-8 as optional. Automatic transmission is standard. The "big" Chgvy is built on a 116 inch is COMPLETION IS only weeks away for the latest new downtown hotel, the Hoiiday Inn Mart Plaza.

Located at Wolf Point, just west of the Merchandise Mart, the 527-room development is part of the Apparel Center, a sprawling new dual-towered complex designed by Skidmore, Owings Merrill that will include a large exhibition hall and 1,000 showrooms leased by clothing firms from around the country. The hotel's most striking architectural feature is a towering, atrium (or vertical open space) that rises 10 stories from the lobby to a skylight Reminiscent of the atrium in the Hyatt Regency O'Hare hotel in Rosemont, it is bordered by guest rooms. THE LOBBY HAS four flcui trees waiting to take their permanent post-' tions among other plantings for the hotel's official opening in January. They were put on the lobby's-floor before the hotel's walls were up because they are too large to have been brought in in any other way. Room rates at the Mart Plaza will range from $37 to $48 a night.

Hospitality suites will cost from $125 to $175 and a bilevel suite with parlor, dining room, and upstairs bedroom will go for $350. The new facility represents part of a boom in hotel construction north of the Loop. The Holiday InnChicago City Centre recently opened at Ohio Street and Fairbanks Court and construction continues on a Marriott skyscraper at Ohio Street and Michigan Avenue. MEANWHILE, DEVELOPERS of two proposed hotel facilities are vying for the right to build in Illinois Center, an office, residential, and commercial development at Wacker Drive just east of Michigan Avenue. The owners of Illinois Center's Hyatt Regency Chicago, completed in 1974, want to build an addition with 1,070 rooms and convention halls and Guardian Money Management Corp.

seeks to construct an 850-room Fairmont Hotel with extensive convention facilities. Real estate sources believe only one of the developments will go forward. The other would have to wait until the hotel market grows to make it feasible; car in the market in 1977 a title it lost to of the 2.S liter four for eventual throughout the automotive divisions. The new-looking Catalina and Bonneville will make news at Pontiac this fall, and a new fastback version of jthe sub-compact Sunbird, a takeoff on the Monza 2 plus 2, will attract some attention in February when it's introduced at the Chicago Auto Show. Oldsmobile Expecting buyers who want sporty cars will opt for Cutlass and those who want family cars will go for the 88 or Olds general manager Robert Cook said the popularity of both could puts Olds over the million mark in 1977 sales, the third automaker, after Chevy and Ford, to do so.

The sleeper for 1977 could be the Tor-onado XSR, an experimental car last year in production now. It features two electrically operated glass roof panels that slide into the T-bar roof at the push of a button. Buick If you think all GM cars are alike, test drive the '77 Buicks to find out how wrong you are. Among all GM's 77 full size cars, we found Buick to be superior in acceleration, riding, and handling. The 231 cubic inch V-6 engine, standard in the LeSabre, is a bit sluggish.

But if you want better fuel economy from a big car, that's a sacrifice you'll have to i accept. The 403 cubic inch V-8, developed by Olds, is optional in the LeSabre, Electra, and Riviera, and in the Electra we drove it felt like the days before emission controls: Step on the accelerator and the car responds without hesitation. Cadillac Of all GM's new standard-size cars, the 1977 Cadillac shows downsizing the most This could perplex the Caddy buyer who has learned to equate size with comfort. i The car still "feels" heavy, as the other divisions' cars do not, but we also found it a bit noisy, and Caddy buyers don't go for that The smaller are still larger than GM's other big cars. The DeVille and Brougham have 121.5 inch wheelbases--5V4 Inches longer than the other divisions' full size cars.

The newly styled Caddies go on sale Sept. 23. The others appear Sept. 30. By Gary Washburn Real Estate Editor IF YOU WANT to buy a borne but your income isn't up to the level that lenders require, Preston Martin knows just what you need.

It's called the graduated payment mortgage (GPM). "I think the mortgage form that makes the most sense right now is a flexible jrtgage in which the payments are Very low in the first years, maybe not even enough to cover the interest," Martin Raid. "It would enable young families who just cnn't afford a $45,000 to house to get started on their home ownership plans." MARTIN. NOW chairman of PMI Mortgage Insurance a San Francisco-based subsidiary of the Allstate Insurance Companies, served as head of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) from 1969 to 1972. The board oversees the nation's federally chartered and federally insured savings and loans.

The flexible GPM "already is being Used here and there," Martin said. "It's not sweeping the country, but it's being experimented with in several states." One lending institution offering the innovative new mortgage form is California's San Diego Federal Savings and Loan Association. Since early this year, when the first made them available, $3 million in GPMs have been issued. JAMES SCHMIDT, an Illinois native who is the association's executive vice president, said the average family can qualify for a $40,000 mortgage with about $1,000 less in annual income than would be necessary with a traditional, fixed-' payment loan. For the first five years, the GPM borrower pays only the interest on the loan.

For the remaining 25 years of the mortgage, he pays both interest and principal. A $40,000 loan at 9' per cent interest monthly installments of $308.33 for the first five years, Schmidt said. Then, monthly payments would go to about $342 on a 25-year amortization schedule. "Borderline" borrowers on the edge of being able to qualify for a traditional loan are the prime beneficiaries of San Diego Federal's GPM, Schmidt said. The seemingly small monthly savings in the By "James Mateja Chicago's Tribune PfMi Senile DETROIT General Motors 1977 full-size cars are smaller on the outside, as roomy on the inside, and 600 to 950 pounds lighter than their 1976 counterparts.

Getting the public to realize that is one problem GM faces in 1977. The other is to get them to accept the fact the day of the big boat is over and carsjhe size of early i960s models are the wave "of the future. Viewing the new 1977 models during the recent round of press showings makes it evident that the new cars do appear from 6 inches to 12 inches shorter than those that hit the showroom last year. CUTTING DOWN the length wasn't so difficult. The trend had been the low lean look which meant long.

In some instances the engine compartment was nearly as long as some subcompact cars. There was room to spare without touching the passenger compartments. As for the weight loss, you can't see, smell, or (ouch most of the work in that area, as GM engineers are fond of saying, but you can feel it in quicker response and better handling. Lightweight engines are part of it, and they mean better fuel economy. For the first time you'll see several full-size GM cari averaging more than 20 miles per gallon in highway fuel economy.

Until recently mileage that high could be expected only of the subcompacts. THE MOST pleasant surprise is the roominess Of the big cars. Those who thought "downsizing" meant all GM cars would be like Vegas will be surprised to find plenty of leg, arm, and head room inside. The most notable squeeze is in arm and shoulder As car lengths were shrunk, passenger compartments were heightened but narrowed somewhat. If you sit behind the wheel of a 1976 full-size car you can lift your elbow and never touch the door.

If you can do without that convenience you still have more than -ample room in a 1977. HERE IS a rundown on what's new from the GM divisions for 19777 Chevrolet The mini Chevette ados Sunday Tribune Classified Guide Real Estate and Rental Gu We Section 12 Mitf-America Job Guide Section 12, page 34 Auto Mart Section 12, page 60 Auction Mart Sect 2, pgs. 15-17 Other classified advertising including Sports Mart is In back pages of Sports Sect. 3 Classified Index Sports Section 3, page 20 GM 4 i the Olds Cutlass in 1976 with its restyled and slimmed down impala and Caprice (above) models.The 77 model is buiit on a 1 wheelbase (5.5' inches shorter than 76) and is 21 2.1 inches long overall (down from 223 inches). To accent its smaller size in 1977, the Pontiac Catalina is powered by a 3.8 liter (231 cubic inch V-6 engine as standard equipment.

Automatic transmission is also standard. New is an optional CB radio. wheelbase, same as the intermediate Chevelle, but at 112.1 inches is about 2 inches longer. The only disappointment the wagon. It's quieter than previous models but its flat rear end looks like the styling department's clay model had been backed into the wall before the mold was made.

Pontiac Maintaining that "driving an auto should be and can be fun and we wanted our cars to look as good as they drive," Pontiac general manager Alex Mair explained that the subcompact Astre and Sunbird and compact Ventura 'will have Formula decor packages in 77, borrowing the sporty look from the Firebird Formula model. Pontiac also adds two new engines in '77 a cast iron 2.5 liter (151 cubic inch) four-cylinder engine that could be the eventual successor to Chevy's aluminum 140 cubic inch four, and a 5 liter (301 cubic inch) V-8 that Mair says has the performance of an eight, the economy of a six. The new four appears in the compact Ventura, the only domestic compact with so small an engine. GM has ordered Pontiac to come up with a diesel version Though the recessed rectangular headlamps are new for 1977, the hallmark ventiports on the front fenders quickly establish the car as a Buick Electra. A combination AMFM stereo citizens band radio is optional, -liJ--- JE For those who thought downsizing was OK tor the rest of GM's cars but couldn't be done on Cadillac, the 1977 de Ville shows that 950 fewer pounds and 9.5 inches less length have actually enhanced the looks of this A more economical 425 cubic inch V-8 replaces the 500 cubic inch V-8 engine as standard The 1977 Olds Toronado not only looks all new up front but on top, too, as a special XSR model offers dual electrically operated glass panels above the front seats.

The panels slide inboard for sporty appearance and' convertible feel. IS.