Evening star., 1920-03-27
TRADE, INDUSTRY
NEED BUILDINGS
Washington Demand Is Seen
as Well as That in Other
Big Cities.

| Urgent need in Washington as well
as in practically all other large cities
Of the United States, of many new
| buildings for commercial and indus
trial uses. as well as demand for new
housing accommodations. was noted
| by Z. II. Rheem of Swartzell. Rheem
! & Hensey this week as powerful
factor in the building industry this
spring.
! The alacrity with which every
| available business property is snap
| ped up and frequent resale of such
| properties at steadily increasing
| prices was noted by Mr.. Rheem. who
| spoke of one downtown business
building which has been sold three
| times within the last four months.
| the first sale being for 100000. the
! second for 100000 and the third for
| $4,000.
| Discussion of Conditions.
Discussing conditions in this city
and throughout the country, Mr..
Rheem said
! "The great activity in new con-
struction. which is evidenced through.
| out the country with the coming of
| spring, is not all being confined to
| new houses and residence property,
| but commercial construction Is com
/ manding a large percentage OF this
II great concentrated movement. Nv
Il ports from all the large cities show
great increase in the demand Tor
Il places of business. and in order to
keep abreast with this demand large
operators are dividing their efforts
\ between providing homes for the
growing population to live in. and
erecting suitable establishments in
which they may more conveniently
carry on their various business en-
terprises
erty may be accounted for by the
fact that very little of this kind of
construction was carried on during
the period of the war. and: more es-
pecially: to the unprecedented :, in
corporations which have been, re
Gently organized and are seeking
places of business. Never in the
history Of the United States have
there been formed as many COM
panfes. both in new lines of endeavor
and in old. and the general prosper
ity coupled with the ever-increaslng
demand for almost every article OF
commercial use. with the limited ca
producing these articles. have made
the opportunities for new organlza-
tions very attractive.
Old Concerns RemOdeling.
Thus we find everywhere in the
larger cities new buildings in the
course of construction. large once
buildings. small retail stores. ana
every sort of available ground in
business centers being snapped up at
what seem fancy prices Nor is this
activity limited to entirely new opera
tions In order to keep pace with the
new businesses, old concerns are re-
modelling their present homes, fresn-
ening up both inside and out. and in
some instances replacing their estab-
lishments in their entirely.
"Just as in. the case of new homes.
Washington finds itself in unique
position with regard to the shortage
Of business property. Since the war
large CORPORATIONS all over the coun-
try have opened and are maintaining
large offices here where they may be
iin close touch with the newly cen
tralled government departments. On
account of our enormous increase III
jpopulation, several of the great mer-
lcantile stores of New York are finding
tft profitable to open branch stores mere.
land there is a mad scramble LOT the
choice locations. The mammotn inuus-
tries Of the west find that washington
lis the ideal spot for their distributing
6epots being so centrally situated with
regard to Virginia and Maryland, anu
there is great demand for space 1or
Wholesale buildings and warehouses; III
addition to the usual retail store. -
large grocery concern from the south
believes the city so attractive field
that it has approximately ffty stores
under construction here at present
Effect of ZoninE Bill.
another important factor in TINS
healthy demand for new places OF
business Is the new zoning bill. which
will have its effect on Washington
limiting, as it does, the streets on
which business may locate. as wei! as
| debating the heights to which build
ings may be built. This will tend TO
make these sections which are already
devoted to business more valuable, on
account Of the scarcity of available
sites, and this result is already being
discQunted by the large rentals when
| aro being offered for new property
now nearing completion.
! Never has Washington experienced
such a shortage of office space. store
space or space for commercial use. and
! this demand is making it doubly at
| tractive for builders to devote large
part of their resources toward the
! construction of this class of property.
LAS in the construction of homes.
! the first mortgage plays the most i'm
| portant role in making these new op-
| eratfons possible, and it is fortunate
l that there is an e<er-increasing sup
ply of investment money seeking this