Construction workers are still swarming over the Mulberry Lofts building at 11th & Mulberry streets, but 31 of the 48 condominium units being created inside already have been sold or reserved.

Those owners and city officials are on the list of people who have been invited to gather at the site on Thursday to celebrate the downtown housing project – even though the completion date is probably a couple of months away.

“We’re working from the top down, so the top half of the building just needs some detail work, cleaning, touch-up,” said B.J. Knapp, a sales agent at Iowa Realty. The six-story building dates from 1919, and some of its rough edges will remain. Along with new features such as granite countertops and up-to-date windows, the original brick exterior walls have been left exposed along with concrete ceilings and worn support columns.

Dick Sontgerath, president of Heritage Affordable Housing in Seattle, is the force behind the project. He formed Mulberry Lofts Development L.L.C. and hired RDG Planning & Design to make the remodeling choices.

Two years ago, prices for Mulberry Loft condo units were projected to be between $125,000 and $175,000, but the range has expanded in both directions. The least expensive unit is priced at $85,900 and the most expensive is about $340,000.

The top-of-the-line residence occupies 1,684 square feet at the southeast corner of the sixth floor and features unobstructed views of downtown and the wooded area to the south of the planned Riverpoint West development. It also will have a fireplace, a 100-square-foot balcony and a wide-open floor plan.

At the southwest corner of the top floor, a unit priced at $250,000 boasts views of Terrace Hill, the George Washington Carver Bridge and those same trees to the south.

The least-expensive units are on the ground floor and look out on the wall of an adjacent building.

Workers removed one stairwell and built two, one inside and one outside. The passenger and freight elevators remain; a couple of condo buyers already have made plans to use the freight elevator to haul their Harley-Davidson motorcycles to storage areas in the basement.

Such storage room is available to condo owners at additional cost, as is parking on the north side of the building. Twenty-five parking spaces are for sale at $15,000 apiece, and 25 are available to rent at $50 per month.

Once used for making and storing automotive parts, the renovated Harger-Blish building will have a fitness center and a community room, along with a rooftop patio. “We’re catering to young professionals,” Knapp said, “but we do have empty-nesters among our buyers, too.”

The city agreed a year ago to grant $332,000 to Mulberry Development on July 1, 2007, if a certificate of occupancy has been issued for all of the building’s condo units. The city subsidy will come from tax-increment financing funds. The project cost was estimated at $7 million.

The building is the westernmost of three residential projects in the area. The 10th Street Lofts, two buildings on the west side of 10th Street that were renovated into apartments by Ed Massman, are virtually full. On the east side of 10th, developer Robert Bergazyn is in the midst of transforming the former Look magazine building into 64 condominium units.