Evening star., 1937-12-25
RENTAL HOUSING
PROJECTS HAILED !.
AS GOOD '?S6lSK
All Large Cities in Need of
Such Development, Ex-
pert Asserts.

Large-scale rental housing projects,
privately financed, constitute the out
standing architectural opportunity for
1888, declares a forecast by William
Stanley Parker of Boston. chairman
OF the Committee on Construction In
dustry Rela tons Of the American In
stitute Of Architects. Such develop
ments are greatly needed in all large
American cities, Mr.. Parker says.
with the present concentrated
effort to push forward Nationwide
housing program. architects may well
lift their hopes so far as this program
Is concerned with laree-scale rental
projects he explains Here is the
architects chance for constructive and
profitable work in which he can make
real contribution toward the sound
development of his city.
"A thousand small houses, built for
rent In five or six large-scale neigh
borhood developments on a series of
tracts scattered near the edge of the
one-fare zone around large city and
administered jointly under skilled
management, aye probably the safest
bng-term investment available.
Courting High Rerturns
"Architects will need vision, per-
sistence and perhaps hypnotism to
achieve success in this field, for
finance has not yet seen the oppor-
tunlties latent in such projects.
Finance is still worshiping liquidity
and counting high returns. a situation
which means stock market rather
than real property investments.
"Architects must hypnotic the
hnanciers and erase these fixed ideas
from their minds. The seed of this
new type of housing may then find
mental soil in which it can take root
and flourish and cause the fiuanciers
to flourish. too
Conditions in the architectural
profession were more favorable in
1887 than in 1885, according to Mr..
Parker. Almost all the draughtsnlen
for whom jobs were found in Boston
this year by the Emergency Planning
and Research Bureau. Inc, went to
private employers, while two years
ago many we're still being sent to
Jobs on relief projects, he points out.
Risky Investment.
In the field of the small house
speculatively built to sell, there is still
the lending agency to hurdle before
the architect can hope to secure anv
substantial amount of employment.
Mr.. Parker continues. "A single small
mouse, speculatively built for sale
among a lot OF others built by other
spectators in an uncontrolled neigh
porhood. is about as risky an invest
ment as a man can make. and those
who most often make it can least
afford to take the risk.
Although the loaning agency
hurdle is still very high one, the
Federal Home Loan Banks home
building service plan marks a signifi-
cant and hopeful step forward. In
comparison with the attitude of the
loaning agencies 10 years ago, this
advocacy by national loaning agency
OF architectural service for small
houses is notable. Unfortunately, the
extent to which the individual loan
Ing agencies have failed to put the
service plan into operation is also
notable.
The same practices of overap-
pralsal and undersupervision that
were rampant in the late eos have
been observed in the loaning field
during the past year. When the lead
ership OF the Federal Home Loan Bank
Is followed, architects will come into
their own in the small-house field-if
they are ready to take up the chal-
lenge and provide the kind and char
Acter Of service the small-house field
needs.
MOdernization Prospects,
' 'Modernization of old buildings
seems likely to be more important
than new commercial work in the near
future. Hotels and institutional build
mgs also, in my opinion, will not re-
peat the peaks of the 2Os for some
time.
Federal financing for public build
mgs IN 1888 will undoubtedly be far
less than in the recent program. Until
the local tax situation has improved
States, cities and towns are not likelv
to assume the added financial load
The President has intimated that the
future Federal public works program
: will be reduced to $5OO,OO0, 900 a year.
: or $750,000,000 less than in 1896.
A. Cities, counties and States in 1886
: were spending only little over
$1,000 100000 on public building. I
zee no chance of their nearly doubling
their expenditures in the immediate
future. If they do not, and Federal
= spending shrinks to less than half it's
: recent amount, there will be added
unemployment in the construction in
dustry and in that branch of it which
generally requires architects services. -