Evening star., 1934-07-07
AUTUMN RENTAL
BOOM PREDICTED
Shortage of Small Apart
ment Units Seen as City
Grows.

The sharpest revival of the rental
market that washington has expert
enced in years will begin in early
Autumn. in the opinion of F. Elliott
Middleton, vice president OF the
Washington Real Estate Board, who
enumerated present indications that
the boom will take place.
Unless all signs fail, he said, there
is likely to be a shortage OF available
small apartment units before snow
flies. and a demand for more elabo-
rate living accommodations and otflce
space should be somewhat in keep
ing.
Mr.. Middleton, through his contact
with associated realtors maintaining
large rental offices, reported that he
finds the vacancy per centageS in all
classes of apartments materially lower
today than they have been in sew
eral years. He added that the usual
exodus of tenants during the hot
months has so far been notlceaoly
absent.
"Of the multiple new factors ia
vorably influencing the loca. rental
situation consideration of three alone
would appear to fully warrant such
forecast" he said,
EXPANSION of Agencies.
I'VE recently have had ample first
hand evidence of the amazing eX-
pansion major recovery movements
are capable Of, notably in the case OF
the Home owners Loan Corporation
Within a year this agency has grown
from a bureau employing less than
100 persons to an organization re-
curing many thousands OF square
feet of office space to accommodate a
personnel running into the thousands.
"The recently created Housing Ad-
rninistration is quite likely to show an
even greater if not a more raplo
growth. and Secretary IckeS has just
announced that it shall have to mo
quarters for itself in privately owned
buildings at the outset.
This movement to rebuild America
is almost limitless in its possibilities
and if the whole program is carried
out it will require set-up in space
and personnel at least equal to that OF
the N R. A.
The second factor having to DO
look is to be found in the second
phase of the n R. A. progran-thaI
relating to code enforcement.
Few old-time residents OF the Cap
ital have ever regarded the city as
in any sense an industrial center
although it has long gone IN Tor the
wholesale fabrication Of laws ana
politics.
Washington Is Center.
1.-THE first six months of the present
wear, however, have put a dlferenI
face on the situation and TO-DAY WaSIl-
ington is the fountainhead OF mduS-
trial and financial America.
There are, Gen. johnson reports
roughly 450 industries OF cahoet
to ate code of fair practice. OF
these. more than 300 anticipate set
ting up code authority headquarters
in the Capital. To date less tnan lVO
have done So. There are II OF these
now functioning in the MurHey oulio-
ing while are housed in the Union
Trust Others are scattered through
the Shoreham, Woodward, Southern
and other similar office structures.
Most of these already have large
staffs and it is with this personnel
that we are chiefly concerned.
large number-in some instances as
high as 80 per cent-of the new
workers are specialists in the indus
tries they represent. They are new
coners to the city. brought IN chiefly
from Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago,
BOSTON. New York and other Northern
industrial centers. AS salarled class
thew rate we'll above the average Gov
eminent scale. consequently here we
have rapidly increasing hundreds OF
new potential renters for our hlgher
priced apartment house space.
The third factor relates TO the
in1nroved economic status OF the most
of civil service employees permanently
domiciled in the District. and the
thirtv-odd thousand workers added
to the temporary Federal pay rolls
during the last year. Restoration OF
10 per cent the pay reduction I'M
posed in 1922 will make it possible 1or
hundIe of the former to return 10
their old standards Of living after
long period cf severe curtallment,
while the latter. chosen mainly from
the ranks of the long unemployed,
will be enabled to re-establish the
selves in more suitable living quarters
making way doubtless in some IN
stances for those now facing eviction
through the districts imminent actloh
IN eliminating alley and other unf
DECENTRALIZATION dwellings.