The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16


 buy either one of these lots. It IS said with assurance that such an off fer has been made for each iot anu the offer has been refused
 In this neighborhood, the real estate man says property Is worth s2,4OO front foot. This means that 1T tne money in silver dollars was piled one on the other, side by side, along the front of the property the pile would reach higher than your head. The silver wall would be higher than the head of a six foot man. That's the highest price for Dexte" avenue prop erty. Further up the ;sNenue- towards Perry street it is worth Sl,eeo front foot stills s-asnaR would fina .li,l " Ialg ny V hard to buy the property at that ns- ure. which is the figure the real estate man put on 1t.
 Property Near Capitol.
 Away up the avenue property mas leaped upwards in price. It is said up toward the Capitol property has almost trebled in value in two years. A real estate man who has bought and sold Dexter avenue dirt towards the Capatol said that two years ago the property might be bought for $50 or ssO a front foot. Now he says 1t Is no trouble to sell 1t for Sl5O front foot.
 The Roemer property just above The Advertiser building was bought tew wears ago. It cost then $6,00O, The other day Mir. Roemer, after repeated solicitation, sold it. That piece of property for which he paid $6,oOO, he sold for S2O 900. That's the way Mont gomery property is making money Tor It's owners.
 A few months ago w. W. Haygood bouRht the small building on the northeast corner of Lawrence street and Dexter avenue paying Sl9,OOO Tor 1t. That ought to have been good price as the building only has front age of twenty-five feet. But atter holding it only lew months he sold It the other day for S25,0OO.
 Figures and profits could be re- peated again and again showing Mont Eomery's wonderful advance in prop erty values. If the city were a new town, if 1t were a wind tanning place like sohne other Southern cities, news of these boom prices would have been heralded all over the country. But Montgomery is not that sort of boom place It is only a strong, erich and prosperous city, growing wonderfully fast.
 But the opinion might be entertained that these startling advances in the value of real estate are only true Of Dexter avenue. This opinion would be erroneous. Commerce street affords some astonishing instances of money making fin real estate. The two stores immediately north of the First National Bank building have total frontage of fifty feet. 4hey were sold some years ago for $15,000. Many real estate men remember the sale They were bought this summer by Frank Kohn. He paid for that piece of prop erty $50. 900. and considers that he has a bargain, as he no doubt has.
 If. five years ago, a Montgomerian had prophesied l..at the Gay corner on Bibb and Commerce street would sell for SIOO, 900 those in a position to know would have thought him very ignorant or given to loose talking. Still the lot brought that figure when it was sold in october as a site for an office build ing.
 ExpansiOn of Trade Center.
 Dexter avenue and Commerce street are of course recognized as the main business thoroughfares of Montgomery. But the fortunes in real estate have grown up of these principle thorough fares. The time when the business district of Montgomery must absolute ly widen, the time when the retail section of a necessity must expand has been foreseen. Plans have already been laid for it. Property on adJoin- ing streets has already leaped for ward in increased value in antlcipa- ton of this movement for a wider and bigger commercial district. In less than two years property on these streets adjacent to the retail district has piled up fortunes for its owners.
 The Elks Home property on Bibt street near the First Baptist Church s an instance in point. The Elks bought this property a little over two years ago. It had a frontage of 215 feet and they paid Sls,OOO for 1t. The other day the Elks sold off not quite half of this property a piece having front of about 100 feet For this they got approximately S19,O0o. The half they sold paid the cost price oi ! the original piece and they have now