Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1919-10-02
HOUSING OUTLOOK
IS VERY SERIOUS
Big Shortage of Homes in City
is Seen During Coming
Few Months.
BUILDING COMPANY NEEDED
Organization Must BE Formed To Aid
in Relieving House Shortage
City is Facing.

The city of Alma is facing another
winter season with what is expected
will be the greatest shortage of
homes for her workers before spring
that the community has yet eXper-
fenced, and it is becoming more and
more certain that the business inter
ests of the city must begin TO plan
within the next few months for some
kind of a building organization which
can aid Alma this next year in the
construction of homes, hundreds of
which are certain to be needed before
spring.
There is little question but that
few people in Alma have been turning
their eyes to the immediate future of
the city, and have seen the need that
there will be in the next few months
for houses.
At the present time it is almost
impossible TO secure a house in Alma.
Cases have come up within the past
few weeks, where houses have been
sold, and the people who had been
renting them were unable TO find suit
able residences, and were forced TO
rent suites of rooms for the winter.
With this condition true at the
present time, 1t promises to be the
most serious proposition that will
confront Alma in the next few
months, when some hundreds of work
ers will be seeking houses in this city.
1t will be only a matter of about
ninety days before the plant of the
Northern Wheel company will be in
operation, factory which is expected
20 start with over one hundred en-
ployes. The sugar factory is about to
start and without doubt among it's
three hundred fifty employees will be
married men brought here, who will
desire to remain in Alma provided
they can find homes
There is another demand coming
also. The plant of the Bollstrom
Motor company has been started in
st. Louis. Houses are now at a
premium III that nearby city, where
numerous Alma workers are now liv-
ing. The demand in that place will
be serious, and will aid in increasing
the demand in Alma
Of late great home building pro-
Jects have been launched in some of
the larger cities of the state. which
might be brought into play in Alma
with telling effect in aiding to re-
lieve the house shortage problem.
which Alma has on its hands. Stock
has been sold in these companies to
the amount of hundreds of thousands.
Tor the sole purpose of aiding in the
development of the cities in which the
companies are located. Only rea-
sonable return on the investment is
sought, a small interest. as the vital
proposition is community DEVELOPMENT
IN those cities.
Ihese companies are aiding worthy
workers to obtain homes. In some
cases as high as ninety per cent Of
the cost of a home is advanced by the
company, which constructs the homes
and sells them to the workers at
about one per cent of the total pur-
chase price a month as the monthly
payment
The COMPANIES have a variety of
plans for homes, and furnish free
plans for those who purchase from
them.
local committee is understood TO
be studying these different building
organizations with a view of launch
ing project of this kind in the near
future, and it will depend entirely
upon the people of Alma just how
successful such an organization will
be, as it will be necessary to have
thousands of dollars in stock subscrip-
tions to make company of this kind
handle the situation in Alma.