The Minneapolis journal., 1906-09-23
HOTEL INVESTMENT
is AN EYE-OPENER
Purchase Of George A. Pilsbury Home on Tenth Street
and Third Avenue to Be Improved by Erection of an
$80O,000 Apartment House, Is Fine Advertisement of
Growth and Future Greatness of Minneapolis.

The fact that man like Frank J..
ment in Minneapolis property and inn
provements is the most encoura ging in
cident of the month. Frank Mackey is
| a globe trotter.T He spends lot of
time in England and the rest of the
twelve-month in travel. He, is at home
| in the business centers of the United
| States and now has come back to Min
neapolis to make his heaviest invest
ment of the year. .s..' h =: ~: @.s - f.,
A million dollar investment by a
single investor has been an unheard of
| thing in Minneapolis heretofore. Other
| large investors have that amount out
in Minneapolis mortgages and lands
one or two, OF them anyway but the
dropping of a lump sum smashes the
real estate record to smithereens.
Same Old Deals. .--.
! 1t is historical fact that when Mr..
| Mackey some twenty years ago, bought
the site of the Mackey-Legg block at
Fourth street and Nicollet avenue he
established the high record for prop
erty values in Minneapolis: He paid
$500 a front foot for a 66foot lot, and
then improved the property with
building, which is still credit to
| Nicollet avenue.
Mr.. Mackey now proposes a plan
which will establish another Minnea-
polls. and Mackey record. He will f.
nance an $S00,Co0 family apartment
hotel that. will beat anything in the
northwest in it's design and it's appoint
anything that Minneapolis possesses,
with all of its late great development
in the cuisine line.
1t must not be thought for single
moment that Mr.. Mackey made his in
vestments here On a haphazard chance.
Altho he is known widely for his
good Judgment in financial matters.
Mr.. Mackey did not trust to snap
Judgment, but had his confidential men
thoroly. Their decision was favorable
and the deal went thru, to the credit
OF Minneapolis. ....
Conditions Changed. Z.
Conditions have changed much since
Mr.. Mackey was making his former
lnvestments here. The city then de-
pended rather on it's own internal ex:
panslon than on developments of trib-
4tary, territory for its business. To-
day the northwest is making such de-
mands on Minneapolis for supplies that
the city must grow willy. While the
future of Minneapolis seemed bright
twenty years ago, the perspective was
SO long that prospective investors often
were. faint hearted when it came to the
actual placing of money. Today the
Improvement is as inevitable as sunrise
tomorrow and the investor can scarcely
60 wrong Mr.. Mackeyy has found this
out and therefore was not bit afraid
TO drop a fortune into the market.
In his local operations Mr., Mackey
has combined with Theodore F. Curtis,
He found their aims and views to be
similar in regard to real estate invest
ment and Improvement and conseuuent-
lly left matters in Mr.. Curtis hands.
together they will be the principal
holders Of the Curtis Hotel company
stock and will erect the new apartment
building. :: :: ',~z>,7
New Building a Success. !,
The success of Curtis court, a new
feature of Minneapolis building a wear
ago., was one of the circumstances
new alliance. Mr. Curtis has capital
himself, and has had a long expert
ence as designer and builder. He
will erect and have charge of the new
departure.
II think property is cheap in Min
neapolis,'' said Mr.. Mackey before
leaving Minneapolis last week. ''In
tact, think that the purchases I have
just made here are worth today more
than l gave for them, and that the
average property in Minneapolis is
tWo-thirds too cheap.
my reasons for saying this is that
l can t see why the northwest is not
bound to grow fast and I can see no
reiat1ve difference in what they arc
asking for property here now and what
tahey were asking twenty years ago.
At that time property was high and
money was high, and now property is
theap and money is cheap, considering
the way the country is developing
building up, the railroads extending
and the business we are doing here
now, as compared with that time.
Business Is Growing.
E'The taking up of farm lands and
the settling of the country all round
you has created a business that no one
knows about except the railroads and
the jobbers. When they begin ::tc
are buying all the land they hey can in
Minneapolis, and they usually buy land
only when they need it, it looks as if
they were getting ready for business
Business has grown up around you to
such an extent in the last twenty years
that the best railroad officials have pre-.
dicted that you will have half mill
ion population in Minneapolis within
the next five years. think the same
,""With the number that are looking
for locations for jobbing houses and
industries, and with the number that
are coming in, like the Buffers and the
Armours, think the prediction is justi
fed. If the business was not here OF
was not going to grow and get bigger
[ shouldn It think these industries
would come in here at all. Es>.}
"The railroads feel the business first
the jobbers next, and the hotels third
and they are not telling yet what q
big business they are doing. Competi
: tors will discover it after time, and
| IL