Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1926-01-01
UEW IGlI 0l'Eg
FIRM TAXES GREAT
STRIDE M2 IEAHs.

p International Labor News Service
NEW YORK, Dee. 81 The com
mercial prhctieability % building
good. substantial garden homes FOR
wage earnefs Is thought 70 have been
demonstrated y tie reimbursement
Tat the CITY Housing Cooperation,
which is constructing the Sunnyside
confmnhfEy a garden homes in
Queens, has accumulated surplus Of
sl5O. 900 IN less than two years. oper-
alton. This surplus has not come out
Of the pockets Of homebuyers ct SUM-
hysids, but resulted from the sale Of
surplus land 70 other builders Who
we're anxious to locate their projects
near he lourishing community which
the corporation has developed.
Insistence by tenants before the
State OonahnIssion on Housing and Re-
eionai Planning that thte housing
shortage Is still acute Tor the family
Of moderate income and their pleas
for an extension Of the emergency
Trent laws gave added interest to the
City Housing Corporations achieve
ment.
sells Modern Brick Houses
According to Alexander NJ. Bing,
president, who made the announce
ment, this corporation which limits its
dividends to 6 per cent, has found it
possible not only to build and sell
modern brick homes with large gar
dens and playground space on q basis
OF about $10.B0,a room month carry
ing charges, but also to accumulate
$160,0OO surplus for further extern
sion Of its program.
Work was begun at Sunnyside early
in 1924 in the belief that BY limiting
profits and operating efficiently and
economically on large scale, good
homes could be constructed even un-
tdef present high costs to sell at prices
lower than families Of moderate IN
come are paying in rents In many
cases. Since then homes for $50 FAM
lilies of the value Of $1,000 900 have
been completed and $1,000, 900 more
are under construction to be finished
during 1926.
Attention those interested in
housing has been attracted to Sunny
side for the further reason that the
plan on which he houses are con-
structed provides vastly more light
and air than in most city dwellings
and large gardens and Fairgrounds.
The houses, occupying less than 30
per cent Of the land, are grouped
around great central gardens and
play spaces for children which take
lup most of the remaining 20 per cent.
Surplus From Sale of Land
The most significant featuEe of the
company's success, Mr.. Bing believes,
is the fact that, the surplus does not
come from the sale Of houses but has
been accumulated by disposing Of sur
plus real estate holdings to other
builders. When the corporation be-
gan work at Sunnyside, he explained
it bought tract of about 20 acres,
mostly in full square blocks. At the
same time scattering of smaller
plots in the immediate neighborhood
was purchased in the knowledge that
this undevelopsd region would boom
in value as soon as the City Housing
Corporations program got well under
way.
with 100000 worth. Of homes
built and \ flotlrishing community
fairly started, the corporation has
found a ready and profitable market
for these smaller plots" Mr.. Bing
said. thus It has been able to
gather a substantial surplus which
not only demonstrates the value Of
the limited dividend corporation in
providing better homes for families
of moderate income, but viii also en-
able to City Housing Corporation to
experiment further with thtis diff
lcult problem.
Housing Problem Under Microscope
an some respects Sunnyside is a
Laboratory where we are putting the
housing problem ct the wage earners
under the microscope This has not
been done before in this country as
far as / know. Too often the con-
Istruction Of homes, especially Of the
less expensive type, has been hit
or-miss proposition. Now we are be-
ginning to know what some Of the
items Of cost are, what are the most
economical design and methed Of com
struction is and what plan best serves