The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-04-20
Agents Cannot Supply the Demand
for Flats and Dwellings in
st. Louis.
BUILDING GIVES NO RELIEF.
Contractors Are Busy, But They
Do Not Put Up Houses Fast
Enough - Situation Dis
cussed by Dealers.

49, 'S"~ Va oup Win a HOUSE ldlIl-
inc, and there appears to be no remedy In
the near future to insure relief from the
congestion. The problem is a serious one
for the agents, the builders. and partic-
ularly for the tenants. So scarce are dwell
inss that hundreds of families have their
names listed with the St. Louis Real Es-
tate Exchange. 10 be notified as soon as an
eligible vacancy occurs.
Each real estate agent tells the same
story Of a lack of vacant houses and fats
and OF the constantly increasing demand
for dwelling places. The city is growing far
more rapidly than her building operations
building trades is employed. contractors
say. but their combined efforts are not
housed.
One of the direct effects of the scarcity
OF flats and houses is that hundreds OF per-
sons are doing light housekeeping in one
or two rooms. a measure forced on them
by necessity. They are Obliged to live in
crowded quarters because nowhere In a dis
to find quarters. This condition is not a re-
cent one. either. All during the winter the
stantly decreasing, SO much so that many
o. the agents have their entries all can
eeied: They have.s in theatrical phrase
o!osy, standing room only"
Relief Not omis soon.
The consensus Of opinion among realty
men ana builders is that while there wa
be much building this spring the feeling
among men with money is that without
some defnlte assurance as to the date OF
the Fair. some settled statement from labor
organizations and some understanding as
to where the price of materials will rest,
the building era will not reach
proportions-at least. not in the near future.
Rents, they say, have been very low IN st.
Louis for ten years. and as the disposition
they are obliged to. landlords are taking
their time about investing In new dwell
inss. It costs much more to build now than
In years gone by, the restrictions are hard
er and the taxes higher. There must be as
suranees hat an investment, will yield at
average house builder viii sink his money
In property. When this assurance seems at
hand an unprecedented era Of building OPP
%erations may be counted on.
These views are gathered from fragment
tary statements of builders and agents.
voiced repeatedly on Realty Row at build
ers' HEADQUARTERS. They are not based on
the tenants view point. naturally. but there
Is a general unanimity about these utter
ances which indicates that for several years
prevail In ST. Louis. Within three months
seven or eight out of every ten building
projects for which plans and speSihGations
owing to the fact that bids were too high.
The figures submitted. scared the investors
plane. but are Simply waiting for a time
when they believe they can afford to go
ahead and nav the prices asked; II they
~ &C. Aohl la pi'poil ~ ~ lie CoSJ VI
the enterprises they seem willing to. go
ahead promptly. They argue. however.
that i may take a scarcity such as xhe one
that a famine Is here and that the law of
supply and demand is a powerful factor In
fixing the standard of rents.
Cheap Construction Is Discouraged.
Cheat stress is laid BY some on the fact
that the stringent building ordinances are
to blame for the scarcity Of new houses.
vital a reason AS Is suggested. The Master
Builders Association and the Building Com
tractors Association have for years worked
to induce builders to hold to high standards
of buildlng; to discourage cheap work and
frowned down on the class or spectators
only. These houses are shells with pretty
fronts and in a few years they go TO
pieces: In the end the builders fraternity
loses because Of unscrupulcus building.
Chicago has had much of this slipshod
work done and the end has been a disas-
trous one Rigid inspection and good walls
the association advocate, and many OF them
have refused cheap work because CT the in
evitab!e complaint that will follow its in
advisabilty of permitting the erection OF
temporary frame structures before. the
Worlds Fair for a limited time with the
pulled down. Some Of them advocate them;
others say that Chioaeo's example should
shacks were put up by Lake Michigan. and
the owners were quite slow In pulling them
down again. st. Louis might perhaps get a
dose Of the same medicine If Temporary
structures were permitted here even outside
OF the fire limits. Agents are opposed to
them because of the cheapenins tendency
they have toward surrounding property.
Anything which destroys values is on prin-
fraternity.
Now IL the Time for improvements.
Joseph H. Furber. assistant secretary of
the Master Builders Association. said:
Reputable builders are glad that the era
OF cheap speculative houses seems to be
past in st. Louis. We have all along fought
these fre.traps and eye-sores. of which
hundreds have been built in recent years.
As long as rents were so low. OF course
landlords did not feel like putting up
houses built on correct principles. Cheap
rents mean cheap houses. and In the end
is given credit for having the building or
finances amended on lines which will insure
a good class Of buildings, These alone will
make the city pretty: will make the ten
repairs. which have. more than anything
else, caused men and women to hesitate in
putting up dwellings for rent. Houses were
never so scarce in st. Louis. and they are
tied. general labor conditions. uncertainty
about the date of the Worlds Fair, the
higher price of materials are three thrings
that have kept building operations down.
ought to begin soon. 1t is evident that ten
ants will have to pay more for rents. Labor
will not be cheaper. Nothing can be gained
by delay. The best time to build is right
now. Even though the Fair Is postponed.
the city will keep on growing. and nothing
can be gained by waiting.
Contractors are getting buster every
day. But one thing that landlords and ten
ants can look for is that better and ~costlier
dwellings will be the rule in st. Louis. and
t.h will he sorry for II Uhap tho peuy