Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-31

The Steady Progress in the Improvemsnt
OF Business Property.
| THE PURCHASE OF THE FEDERAL BUILDING FRO
POSED BY A sYNpIcArE-A FAVORABLE WINTER
FOR BUILDING oPERArIoNs-orHER MATHIS
OF INTEREST.
TUE INTEREST IN BUSINESS PROPERTY
Il is indicated by the transactions which
| are made from time to time. While there
has been q noticeable falling Oh In the
activity which during the past year Was one Of
the features of the real estate market, still the
demand continues and investors are ready to
avail themselves Of opportunities which may
| be presented Of obtaining desirable pieces Of
property. During the past week the Wendell
property adjoining the Pacific building on F
street near It'll street, was sold and work
was begun ct once to prepare the building for
business purposes. The price obtained for this
property, which was $50 1000. shows no depre-
citation from the standard OF values attained when
the activity wasat its height. The per foot price
was between $40 and S11. Early last summer
| the property at the southwest corner of 9th
and T streets was sold and the price obtained
was S12 per foot. Inside property in the same
block has been offered at $40 per foot and
| these prices seem to represent pretty
well the valuation placed upon prop
erty In this square. The gradual
| rise in values Of F street property east of 7th
street has been one of the remarkable incl
dents connected with the gradual development
| OF that street into q business center. A short
time ago the two blocks between 9th and 7th
| streets were entirely occupied with private
residences. Then followed period when the
| locality became undesirable as a place Of resi-
dence and property seemed to be depreciating
| In value. Since then the residences have been
utilized for business purposes and values have
| steadily advanced.
THE OLD FEDERAL BUILDING.
The upward tendency in values in this
| vicinity is likely to be stimulated if an enter
prize now under. consideration is carried out.
For years the prominent land mark in that
loo atty has been the tall building at the south
east corner OF 18th and streets. The Federal
building, as this plain oid-fashioned structure
| is known, is unworthy the important location
which it occupies, but owing to divided owner
| ship and other causes it has been impossible
heretofore to make any change. Now how
| ever, an option has been obtained by a syndi-
cate covering the entire property, and it is the
| intention to remove the present building and
erect on the site fine structure. This will be
done il the negotiations now in progress are
brought to q successful ISSUE In that event
splendid building will be erected having
frontage Of 100 feet on 7th street and 1873 feet
on street. The property as it now stands is
| owned by two parties. Mr.. z. G.. Robbins is
| the owner Of the corner piece, which has a
| frontage Of 100 feet on 9TH street and 40
feet on street The price which it is said is
| foot. The adjoining piece faces + street for
80 feet with depth Of about 100 feet. It is
owned by the Rollins estate and the price
| which is to be given is reported to be either
sl2 or S!S per foot. It is understood that
some Philadelphia capitalists are interested in
| this enterprise, and il the sale is finally con-
| summated they will at once proceed to i'm
prove the property as above stated. The erec-
| ton Of q fine building on this corner will be
one of the most important events in the history
OF the development Of street. 1t will involve
the expenditure, including the cost Of
| the ground, of over q half million
of dollars and it will be suitable
complement to the fine structure now going up
at the southwest corner Of 9Th and streets,
which is practically the opposite corner. The
Washington Loan and Trust Company is spend
ing considerably over q half million of dol
lars in this improvement and when such fine
public buildings as those occupied by the
patent office and the post Office departments
are fanked by stately and costly structures
erected by private enterprise, striking illus
| tration will be presented of the growing i'm
| portance Of this city from business point Of
view.
| FAVORABLE TO BUILDING.
Only four weeks of the present winter sea-
| son remain, and unless there is decided
| change in the weather the season will 20 on
record as one Of the most favorable for build
ing operations that this section Of the country
has known for some time. There has been but
little interruption Of outdoor work on account
Of the severity of the w-sther. Builders are
OF the opinion that such a season il more favor
| able than the milder portions of the year. at
| least as far as rapidity of work is concerned.
Workmen can accomplish more than when they
lor IN thn hAaf Nf he
| While perhaps there has been no unusual &C.
| tivity in building operations here during the
present season yet it has not been on account
/ Of bad Or severe weather. Steady progress has
| been made in erecting the granite walls of the
building at the corner OF 9Th and + streets. 1t
| h q curious fact, perhaps not generally known,
| that the modern method Of erecting all large
stone buildings Of this character is to have the
| various blocks Of stone that form the courses
shaped and dressed to the proper form and size
| at the quarries In the case of this building
| workmen at the quarries near Mount Desert in
Maine cut the stone. Each piece was marked,
| so that it could be placed in the exact position
for which it was intended. The contractor in
this city for the stone work states that with one
| or two exceptions every piece OF the IA, 900
| cubic yards Of granite used in the walls was
found to be exact in all its proportions 1t is
rather remarkable, at least to the lay mind
| that workmen in Maine could SO cut and pre-
pare the numerous pieces of granite that
| be found to fit precisely in the place which
/ the plan OF the building required. To the
| worker in stone there is no mystery about this
| as it Is common everyday experience. The
| work Of the men in Maine is guided by plans Of
| the building There is. in the first place. q
| plan Of the entire building drawn on the scale
| Of quarter of an inch. Then detailed draw
ings are furnished showing the actual size of
sections Of the courses, the holdings, the
arches and other detail. A scale of measure
ment is thus obtained FOR every stone in the
| building. As each stone is finished it is num-
bered, each course with consecutive numbers
and If the drawings are carried out with exact
| ness there is no difficulty shout fitting the
stone in its proper position when the long
journey from Maine is completed and the stone
| is brought to this city. The saving that is eff
fected in the cost Of transportation by bringing
| only the amount OF stone needed instead of in
bulk forms naturally a considerable item in the
| expense of large building. The stone for the
| new congressional library building is brought
to this city ready for the stone mason TO put
| in place.
| NEW MAP OF ALEXANDRIA COUNTY.
| There is good deal Of activity in property
across the river in Alexandria county, and
large tracts Of land are changing hands. A
good many acres have been subdivided into
town lots, and no doubt great deal more will
| be done in the same direction when the means
| OF communication with the city have been i'm
proved. There are several plans under con-
| sideration involving the building of railroads,
| the Improvement of the country roads and
| the erection of bridges and the probability Ia