St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-21
Cheap John Valuations Are
Likely to Cause Lack
Of Confidence.
No Other City Can Show a
Similar Foundation
For Growth.
When Prices Go Up, and They
Will, Everybody Will
Buy.

of any great magnitude. Still. the i'll
quiry has kept up to sufficient extent
to keep all the dealers busy. A few
coed transfers have been made, and
there is nothing in the outlook that can
give cause for anything but sanguine
expectations. A conversation GLOBE
reporter had few days ago with Wis
itor to st. Paul may be of interest. The
gentleman referred to has spent great
deal of time visiting all the
Western cities with the view of
investing heavy sums of money
for number of Eastern capitalists.
Moreover, he is interested in numerous
railway. land and stock companies. in
addition to a large interest in realty.
The substance of his remarks was as
follows: From careful examination
of values of real estate in ST. Paul, Du-
luth, Minneapolis, Kansas City. Coun-
Gil Bluffs, Denver, Omaha and many
other cities, am of the opinion that
your values are too low on all business
property: in many cases this applies to
residence property, which is away be-
low many of the cities | have visited.
Corners in the business districts of st.
Paul now held at $1,000 a foot, SIM
ilarly situated In several of the
cities mentioned, would be considered
cheap at from $500 to $4,000 foot.
Some people do not seem to appreciate
the immense resources backing this
city-fOur wonderful building. manu-
featuring and joDbing trade. B esideS
the increase in population is remark
able, but the country tributary to st.
Paul is developing faster than you
seem to have any idea of. This very
failure to appreciate the advantages of
the situation and development has had
the effect of keeping your values down.
An advance must take place at once,
and when it starts. the property now
held so firmly by its present proprietors
will be transferred to new capitalists.
The money thus put into circulation
will of necessity stay in st.
Paul to great extent. Some of
it will be put into manufacturing,
some into mercantile business, and
great deal into new investments and i'm
proyementS. | know that property is
not transferring rapidly in st. Paul just
at present. but look at your building
record. Thousands upon thousands of
dollars are going into houses and bust
ness blocks. You fellows do not ap-
preciate what it means to be spending
S20,000,000 a year in improvements in
building up your city. Last year st.
Paul was third in the United States in
think of that! Yet in population and
wealth there are several cities ahead of
you. As favorable money mar
ket is now open to you as to
any city in the country. Your
city bonds are taken as fast as
they are offered. and bonus is willing
ly given for them. Money is plenty for
all classes of mortgage loans. Interest
is being lowered, and to-day there is
more money offered in st. Paul than
can be loaned. l want to say. as an out
slider, that, i'll my opinion. your
PROSPECTS ARE THE BRIGHTEST
of any city that l know of. You have
no boom at present, and you don't want
to have, but you are striding ahead in a
way that will soon place you in the
front rank of the cities of the United
States. When you go down East to
visit your friends and acquaintance.
you will not he asked if the Indi-
ans bother you much now. You
should advertise your city more;
let the people of the East know
you and remove the doubts in
their minds as to your size and posi-
bilities. If st. Paul people had spent
as much money advertising the city as
Portland, Tacoma and some of those
cities have you would have bigger city
to-day than you have now. In cunclud-
ing. would say that in all my travels,
which have been very extensive, have
never come across a city that strikes Inc
as having the appearance of solid pros
perity and brilliant prospects for the fut-
ure as st. Paul"
The foregoing is an accurate quota
ton of the opinions of an Eastern man
on ST. Paul values. He saws they are
far too low compared with those in
other cities, and such an opinion from a
total stranger must be given
some weight. There is no use
cOncealing the fact; values are
too low, and not only real estate men.
but dealers, should speedily become
alive to the fact. 1t does city more
harm than good to keep values down.
1t destroys confidence. A man comes
III and inquiries about values. He finds
goes away saying: "If these st. Paul
men have not confidence In their own
town, 1t cannot amount to much.' If,
on the other hand, they come and find
all property away up, they are more apt
to think the cltyis good place to invest
in. But st. Paul people are gradually
beginning to awaken to their value
of their property. The INQUIRY for
property is brisk from local men
and it is becoming evident that many
wealthy capitalists, who have avoided
putting money into real estate for some
time, are looking around with view to
finding out what is the most valuable
land
To PUT THEIR MONEY INTO.
The wealthy men of the city are all
"dickering" around for cheap lots, and
show that, though for some time they
have not troubled their heads much
about it, they are now feeling pretty
sure that money put into st. Paul real
estate is well invested. While anything
in the business part of the city is
jumped at if it becomes known that it
can be bought shade Off ruling prices,
the largest inquiry is for residence
property. not with the view of
speculation. but with the definite in
tention of building. Lots on the hill
are easily sold at good figures, but as
there are so few that can be bought.
there are few changing hands. Ali
kinds of suburban building lots are
selling freely, and on every lot that is
sold a house goes up. Everybody is
crying for more rapid transit. They
say that no city of its size has such poor
means of getting to and from its out
skirts as st. Paul. There are districts
of the city to which it is almost impos-
sible to get with ease, and the newt
able result of this is the low values of
all property in the neighbor-
hood. There is money for some
man in buying suburban acreage
with view to holding it and
influencing the railroads or street car
company to provide means of access.
There is a large section of the country
lying south of Summit avenue and in
the bend of the river. which is yet
totally unsettled, but which is the
PRETTIEST AND CHOICEST GROUND
for building sites. There is no way of
getting at it though except by driving.