New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-07-19
Contracts Call for Sixty
eight Theaters and More,
Than One Hundred Mon
umental City Structures

Investigations into the actual condi-
ton and trend of the local and general
building construction industry indicate
an uninterrupted flow toward CONNER
cial building, rather than housing con-
struction, says "The Dow Service
Daily Reporter" to-day
In the metropolitan district of New
York alone projects are now in the
hands of contractors for sixty-eight
theaters. for example, and more than
hundred monumental building prof.
ects ranging from structures of the
Equitable type to vast loft building
enterprises such as the remodeling of
great hotel structures contemplate.
There is on the other hand hardly a
new housing project under way in the
Bronx, only limited number in
Queens Borough and scattering of
comparatively small housing enter
prises in Brooklyn, Richmond, Man
haitian and New Jersey are woefully
deficient in building projects for indi-
vldual or multi-tenantage, with an in
crcaslng tendency away from rather
than toward this class of building con-
struction, The 1920 building season
meanwhile has slipped past its mcri-
dian waiting for money, materials and
legislative action that will encourage
rather than discourage construction
OF tenements, apartments and dwell
lngs on scale commensurate with the
rowing requirements.
Look to Overproduction
New York and an important section
of the remainder of the country is GER
tainly driving itself into corner on
commercial building. 1t is an attrac-
tive type of construction now because
there is less odium attached to pro
prietorship of such a building than to
one seeking its income from family
habltation, but without proportionate
increase in industrial building construc-
ton in the country's manufacturing
centers there is bound to be as great
an overproduction of commercial
space as there WAS OF apartment space
in Washington Heights almost a dec
ade ago.
Experienced building interests count
ing up the Office and loft building space
accom- odation contemplated in the prof.
ects already reported as being under
way or in contemplation say that un-
less there is tremendous industrial ex-
pansion in the entire country within
the next five years that sort of building
construction already is in danger of
being overdone. A successful CONNER
cial construction depends upon it's
proximity to labor supply, and if there
is not sufficient housing to keep pace
with the increased volume of CONNER
cial and industrial building construc-
ton within easy and cheap committing
distance from centers of>trade and in
dustry the space market is likely to
become top heavy.
The current projects in New York
alone are almost sufficient to tax the
capacity of the availa bic building ma
terial supply this year and next spring
Most of this supply will go into com
mercial building projects, so that when
the projectors of housing enterprises
come into the market the counter ibid
ding for available building material
supplies will be so heavy as to place
ordinary housing accommodation out
of reach Of even the moderately
affluent.
Cost of Cement May Advance
Evidence of this trend is shown in
Hive