Evening star., 1901-05-25
REAL ESTATE GOSSIP
Continued Activity in the Market is
the Record.
DEMAND FOR HOMES 4 FEATURE
Improvements Being Made in the
City's Business Sections.
SOME CURRENT SALE S

The Franklin apartments, now being
erected on 18th street between I and Wal
lach place, will be five stories in height
above the cellar, and will contain twenty
handsomely finished apartments of five and
six rooms and bath The building will have
a frontage of 60 feet by a depth ofs1O6 feet
to an alley The main entrance hall and
stair halls will have floors of marble mo-
sale, the walls being wainscoted with Italian
marble. Electric passenger and freight ele-
vators will be installed and suitable iron
stairways at either side of the building Will
be provided for servants entrances and
fire escapes. The front viii be of gray
mottled brick and limestone harmoniously
blended. presenting a pleasing and attrac-
tive appearance. Mr.. 3. S. Simmons is the
architect
COmpanies Instead of Firms.
The growing Importance of real estate
here received a further demonstration dur
ing the past week, when the announcement
was made of the consolidation of the real
estate business of Latimer & Nesbit, which
was established in 1893, and the fire insur-
ance business Of F. H. Smith & Sons, estab
lished in 1876. The four principals of these
two firms are the officers of the company
which has been formed, under the name of
the F. H. Smith Co.
AS has been noted from time to time in
The Star, changes of this character in the
firms doing business as real estate agents
have been quite frequent of late. They have
been due largely to the Increase in the vol
ume of the transactions, and on this ac-
count it became important that what lS
known as the good will should have some
such substantial form as Is given by a GER
tificate of stock of an incorporated COM
pany.
Suburban Property Rights.
The opinion recently rendered by the at
torney for the Commissioners, Mr.. Duvall,
as to the right Of property owners to the
use of land affected by the plan of proposed
street extension is in line with the general
understanding of the effect of that legisla-
rion. 1t was appreciated that 1t would be
a great hardship to hold any restraint over
the use of the land In the entire area of
country within the bounds of the District
which will probably not be included within
the system of city streets for some years
to come. AT any rate, 1T is impossible to
predict the rate of progress In the Develop
ment of the suburbs or how rapidly the
acreage property would come within the
class Of subdivided property. For this rea-
son mainly the law provided that owners
of property upon which any street shall he
projected shall have the free right to it's
use for building or for any other lawful
purpose until condemnation proceedings
shall have been authorized and actually
begun.
This right has generally been understood
by property owners and those whose mold
ings are still somewhat remote from the
outposts of the city's population-at least,
as remote as is now possible at any point
within the territory of the District-haye
continued in the enjoyment of their prep
erty, although according to the ACCEPTED
plan OF highway extension their lands are
covered with paper streets which will be-
come actualities only as the growth and
progress of the population requires Still
most property owners, recalling the past CT
the city, recognize very fully that the possi
pllltleS OF the future are such as to bring
about change in the nature If tn cir hold
ings so that what is now agricultural land
may become in the course of few years
city lots.
Policy of Property Owners.
What called forth the opinion Of Mr. Du-
vail above referred to was the application
of the owner Of a small portion of land
which happened to lie directly in the line
of one of these projected or paper streets
for permit to erect a house there. The
attorney Informed the Commissioners that
the property owner under the law had the
right to make such use of his land in spite
OF the fact that the proposed house would
be in the. middle of one Of the streets that is
to be. If the house is built and when that
particular street comes to be opened, then
of course, the owner of this property will
fits for value of the house. 1t is stated
however, by w. p. Richards the assistant
engineer, who has special charge of street |
extension, that it is infrequent for property |
owners to avail themselves of this right |
and build across contemplated street lines
On the other hand, Mr.. Richards states |
they generally find out where the projected |
lines come and in making improvements
keep out of the range
independent OF any public consideration, |
t he average property holder, when he |
builds house, does not want to look for |
ward to being obliged to leave it at any |
time when an appropriation is made for the |
extension of the street where his building |
happens to be. Besides, he does not care |
to face the uncertainties of an award of a |
Jury and run the risk of perhaps getting |
less rather than more than the improve |
and other complications the average prop |
erty holders avoids the lines of street ex- |
tension as far as is possible when building |
on his land IN the agricultural portions of |
the District.
An Apartment House.