Evening star., 1933-12-20
Petition Says Suspension oil
Purchases in Southwest
Section Clouds Titles.
1000, 600 SQUARE FEET
OFFERED AT $4,OOO,OOO
Many Uses by Federal Government
Are Possible With Profit.
Group Says.
A petition requesting the Government

A petition requesting the Government
to proceed with acquisition of properties
! in Southwest Washington previously
slated for purchase under the Federal
building program was presented to Pres.
ident Roosevelt today In behalf of near
~ ooo property owners in the area ad-
lacent to the Capitol, House Ofice
Buildings and Botanical Gardens.
The document, covering 50 pages, was
presented by Robert j. Cottrell, execu-
| tive secretary of the Washington Board
OF Trade, which sponsored the petition.
In addition to the nearly 500 signatures
1t contains maps of each of 26 squares
OF property, with detailed information
as to ownership, assessed valuation and
improvements.
The property owners, in requesting
purchase Of the land. point out that
the indication of Congress that it would
be taken by the Government has "ef-
| fected cloud on the titles" making
1t difficult to sell or rent the properties
or to renew mortgages that come due
or to place mortgages on unencum-
bered holdings.
Owners willing to Sell.
The request is that the Government
buy more than 100000 square feet OF
| property at an estimated cost of ap-
proximately s4,000,000. The property
owners signatory to the petition assert
! they "are willing sell our properties to
the United States of America at rea-
sonable prices"
The petitioners point out that the
industrial recovery act provides for
construction, reconstruction, alteration
or repair under public regulation or
| control. of low-cost housing and slum-
clearance projects" Adjacent to the
Capitol. House Office Buildings. Botan-
ical Gardens and the new public build
| ings now being built on Pennsylvania
avenue are properties detrimental to
the community" which "affect the value
OF nearby properties, also injuring the
beauty of nearby Government struc-
lures" it is asserted.
Suggested uses to which the Govern
ment might put the property include
renovizing worthy existing structures to
provide low-coSt housing for Govern
ment employees and others raZing dilSpi-
dated buildings and replacing them with
low-cost housing; erecting a General
| Accounting Once structure, or apex
building, on the site, or erecting Depart
ment Of Agriculture buildings and mu-
scum quarters on parts of the area
Plan Abandoned Earlier.
The purchase will not necessarily be
new undertaking by the Government,
Cottrell pointed out, but continuance
of the project, which was started sew
eral years ago and ended with incom-
| plete purchase through the operation of
the economy act. Any project on the
site could be made -liquidating, he
asserted
Citing 1T is doubtful If any other
section in the District of Columbia, in
line with the United States improve
ments, could be purchased as reason
ably as in this area" the group requests
the President to order the purchase of
the properties designated, under pro-
visions of the industrial recovery act,
and relieve us of the distressful con-
ditions we are now enduring"
The Board of Trade has been work.
ing for several weeks on the task of
obtaining signatures to the petition. A
/ copy of it was also presented to Fred
eric A. Delano. chairman of the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning Com
mission and member of the Planning
Board of the Public Works Administra-
ton.