Evening star., 1920-04-03
BUILDING ACTIVITY
IN D. c. CHECKED
Succession of Events May
Cause General DepreS-
sion in Program.

Rapid succession or events In the
past week have served seriously to
check building activities in the Dis
trict of Columbia, and operators and
builders fear that accommodating diff
f1culties will bring to an abrupt end
what a few weeks ago promised to
be one Of the greatest seasons Of de-
velopment ever known IN the Ma
tional Capital
Beginning with the proposal Of the
House to increase taxes 66&s per cent
in the District; continuing with the
prospect of inauguration by the Pub
lie Utilities Commission Of zone
system OF street railway fares: ag
gravated by the strike Of laborers
and helpers in several branches Of the
building industry. and capped yester-
day by the announcement Of an in
crease of 81 q ton in the price Of soft
coal. the events Of the week have
been anything but encouraging to
building programs for the spring.
Falling on in Inquiries.
While dependence still is placed in
the Senate to kill the proposed tax
increase. real estate operators admit
that the possibility of such an in
crease has tended to put a damper on
the enthusiasm of prospective home
.,
has been evidenced in the marked
falling or of inquiries for desirable
residence properties.
Prospect of a marked increase in
street car fares, either by means of
q zone system or q fiat fncrea Sc.
operators in SUBURBAN real estate
say. is causing those who had planned
either to buy or to build in the out
lying portions of the District to
change or to abandon their plans. In
majority OF these cases the per-
sons who had planned to buy or to
build homes in the suburbs are
Obliged to calculate closely. and in
auguration of a system whereby
street car fares would be IL cents
Tor single trip from a suburban
zone" to the business section of the
city. with two-cent transfer in
many cases, would be an insuperable
obstacle to a project that otherwise
would have been carried to execution.
Coal and Tax Increase.
Possible increase in taxes and the
already announced increase in the
price of coal such as is generally used
in heating plants of large apart
ment buildings are causing operators
in this class Of properties to stop.
look and listen. The coal bill Of large
easily be increased $4,000 a year. or
even more. by the increase of 50 a
ton. and there is no assurance that
further increases will not be made
The fact that no dealer in Washing
ton will make a contract for future
delivery. even at the advanced price.
is cause for apprehension that is
freely expressed by apartment house
owners, agents and builders. 1t was
stated yesterday that at least three
big operations in this class Of prop
erty are being held up to await de-
IL til
will result in abandonment of the
projects.
Complicating matters to an even
greater degree is the strike of helpers
and laborers in the building and re-
lated trades. Demands made by the
strikers, 1t was stated, are such as to
make them impossible of acceptance:
forfeiture clauses for specific per-
formance. are sufficient to keep build
ers awake nights. These contra cts,
made on the basis of existing wage
scales, cannot be fulfilled except at
heavy losses il the wage increases
while losses almost equally serious
will be incurred If the contracts are
not fulfilled.
Depression Feared.
This condition applies equally to
labor employed on residence buildin =
operations and on apartment. house
construction. and. according to several
Of the largest contractors in the Dis
trict, the combination of untoward
circumstances bids fair to cause most
serious depression in the entire build
ing program this spring and summer,
to bring about much unemployment
to add to the already high rents
throughout the city, to cut off relief
Of congestion by means Of home and
apartment house building. and to
check development that is actually
and badly needed to provide for the
c'ty's rapidly growing population.