Evening star., 1935-12-28
1885 ALEXANDRIA
PERMTSAT PEAK
Million and Halt in Private
Building Conservative
Estimate.
BY MARSHALL w. BAGGETT,
STAFF Correspondent of The Star.

ALEXANDRIA, Va, December 2S-
With a million and a half dollars
placed as a conservative estimate on
the total value of construction WORK
here in 1885 building operations are
believed to have set an all-time record
for this almost 200-year- city DUR
ing the past IL months.
Actual contractors figures on the
value of new buildings and repairs
made, estimates that are generally
known to run between 25 and 40 per
cent under the real value of the work,
show that the total amount OF private
construction in 1885 was S1,084 ,O99.
To this figure must be added the
$3.50 900 expended for construction Of
the new George Washington High
School to arrive at the lowest possible
estimate of the years work-S1 ,434 ,O99.
The highest estimate, obtained by
adding 40 per cent of the total value
of private work to the lowest eSti-
mates, places the total dollars-and
cents representation of Alexandrias
1895 building boom at nearer two mil
lion dollars.
500 Permits Issued.
A total of 307 permits were issued
for new buildings and 392 for repairs
and alterations during the year,
As a means of comparison, in 1884
only 1T permits were obtained for
new work and 327 for alterations and
repairs The total value of construc-
ton work here during 1884 was $780,
o88-just one-fourth of the lowest to-
tai value estimate in 1885.
Unprecedented construction of pri-
vate residences-a total of 302 new
homes were built in Alexandria during
the year-was principally responsible
for the new building record While
some 200 of these new residences were
erected in already developed sections,
the total figure was augmented by new
developments OF Beverly Hills. East
Beverly Hills As new homes were built,
whila 80 others were erected in the
two Braddock areas.
On top OF the overwhelming in
crease in construction Of private
homes, the restoration program, that
has been responsible for the complete
renovation Of approximately 200 old
Colonial homes of this historic city
during the past three years. continued
in full swing throughout 1885.
Three Apartment Buildings.
Despite the demand for apartments,
only three new apartment houses were
built. Two are eight-family buildings
and one-the new Belle Haven Apart
ments-a 25-family residence.
October was the peak construction
month of 1885. This month saw 81
permits issued for new buildings and
AZ for alterations The total value of
construction work in October was
$174,839. April was the second peak
month, with a total construction
value of S163,5O7.
Building operations in 1885 were
divided at S878,247 for new work and
$225,852 for repairs and alterations,
according to the valuation figures for
private construction.
Records at the office of A. R. Lash,
DuALOAIS 4AAoPCSIOA, oAAO" VAAnC VIC 1000
building operations figure is way in
excess of Alexandria's other most re-
cent boom in 1929, when the total
value of that years work was esti-
mated at S876,848 The total number
of permits issued in 1929 was 528,
while the total number for 1895 was
6e9.
While earlier records of yearly
building work in Alexandria are not
available. in the opinion of Inspector
Lash and other city officials the total
value of private construction work has
never before exceeded million dollars
in this city.