Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-10-19
TOO VALUABLE TO SELL

TOO VALUABLE TO SELL
Where Property Can Scarcely he Bought
for Love or Money.
There are twenty or thirty great
business centers in the city of Lon
don where property is of almost equal
vaiue and rated exceedingly high.
To buy tine four acres now occupied
BY the Bank of England and bounded
by Princess, Threadneedle, and 10th
berry streets and Bartholomew lane
1t would be necessary 10 produce q
we'll certified check for the snug sum
Of 814, 600, OO0 Ten million dollars
per acre is the valuation made not
long ago on a lot in the vicinity of
the bank, and a lease was made on
that basis. Picadilly, Strand, Fleet
street. Charlng Cross and other bust.
ness streets in London have corners
worth from $50, 600 to $780, 900 u
front foot.
The owners Of this property. being
as rule men or estates Of great
wealth, are satisfied with 3 to ~ per
cent. on their investments while
here the owners of such property ex-
pect to 8 per cent, consequently
land is u great deal higher in the
business center of London than it is
In Chicago l notice that on the
secondhand business streets in Lon.
dog land is held about twice as high
as 1T Is here. In the suburbs of Lon.
don great deal of property has been
sold out by the lot by methods similar
to ours. London is fast becoming a
great city OF home owners. The
managers of large estates that were
held for a number of years upon
leases made on low valuation con.
cluded that it would be- better to sub
divide the property and sell it out in
lots and reirvest the money. This
has been done to great extent in
all parts OF the city of London and
probably accounts for the wonderful
increase in population during the last
nifty years. Small buildings such as
we sell for 5000 to 81. 900, are sold in
London for almost twice that sum.
In Paris little property is offered
Tor sale; In fact sign board is a rar-
1ty, although occasionally you sec
piece OF property on the back streets
for lease. 1t is very hard to get any
information about property in Paris.
Most OF it is held by owners who are
wealthy and refuse to sell, but on the
principal streets the rent of the stores
Is high, considering their size, the
stores being very shallow and small
Prices are no doubt higher, the rental
value considered than in Chicago.
In Venice scarcely any property is
offered for sale. The city has de-
creased in population, but there seem
to be no vacant houses, and the only
way l could ascertain the value OF
property was to figure out the rents
on the business streets, which were
higher. all things considered, than in
Chicago. In the old city OF Rome
rents on two or three of the principal
streets are very high. and, the stores
being small, 1t would seem that a
small income must be produced &C
cording tC the value held upon the
land. In some directions from the
center Of Rome buildings are being
erected. and land for an ordinary
residenceslot, in rather poor locality,
compared with any of our suburbs
would be about 20 or 40 per cent.
higher than the price we ask.
Even In Cairo, Egypt, the price of
lots along the business streets would |
astonish an American. I asked the
Of an English store called
the Manchester, located near Shep-
heard's Hotel, what rent he paid. !
The store was about twenty five feet
front by about forty feet deep with !
D small annex half as large. He an
swered that he paid about 81. 900 per
annum. 1t did not look to be worth
over $500. Cairo has a population of
about $50, 900, and there are some
stores in the Turkish quarters where
The bazaars are, about four feet
square room enough for the pro-
prietor to sit tailor fashion and sell
his wares to assers-by-which bring
about $50 month.
Even in Jerusalem a boom is in
progress, on account OF the railroad
having been extended to the city,
md lots were selling for $500 to $500
that we would consider high at 5000;
Ind l discovered in nearly every city
visited, even in old Athens which
S rapidly increasing in population
lnder the administration of King
George, that lots were selling on the
outskirts for 5000 to $4OO.-Chicapo
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