Evening star., 1939-07-15
Now Is Time 10 Build,
Declares Fellow Of
Architect Institute
Hall Cites Cheap Money
And Lund and Low
SoIes Prices

For those who have . steady Job
or an assured income, now Is the
time to build, says Emery Stanford
Hall, Fellow Of the American Insti-
5ute OF Architects.
Both money and land are cheap,
and, In proportion to cost Of pro-
duction. constructed buildings are
being sold ut extremely low prices, I"
Mr.. Hall points out. plain sense
should make 1t perfectly clear 10
everybody that with increase In
building volume those who have
money invested in the industry will
demand and get q profit. This
means that the sales price Of
buildings may be expected to ad-
vance.
I'm the face of a 20 per cent
increase in production charges, be-
tween 1925 and 1898, one cannot
9ut be surprised to discover that
the actual sales price in the Chicago
area, not including land, of a COM
pleted frame building which would
have cost $1,000 in the prosperous
days of 1926. has increased only
approximately 7.57 per cent, and for
a $4,000 brick house has only in
creased approximately 8.69 per cent.
The sequel is that in 1925 there was
profit, for those who had money
invested, in the construction indus
try. Today the industry is definitely
in the red"
Higher Cost Laid to Taxes.
Taxes are undoubtedly the cause
Of considerable increase in the
cost Of small building, according to
Mr.. Hall, using as illustration figures
In the Chicago area.
wherever one listens in on q dis
cussion of the question Of building
costs. labor is invariably made the
goat" he adds. 1T is true that wage
scales, for the Chicago area, on the
basic, employed-at-the-site building
trades have advanced since 1926 an
average of 7.8 per cent, but this does
not amount to as much on total
building costs as 1t sounds. Actually
this labor group represents only 80
to IS per cent of the total cost of a
building, meaning that its scale in
crease really adds to the total cost
Of a building only about 2.6 per
cent"
Making the best approximation
that can be made, Mr. Hall explains,
1t seems reasonably certain that dur
ing the period between 1925 and
1888 multiplied taxes and attendant
tax-paying expenses are responsible
for a gross increase in the total cost
Of small building of Is per cent.
He quotes figures showing that the
increase in direct taxes in the Chi
cago district on a $4,000 frame house
has been 1896 per cent. and on q
$4,000 brick house All ner cent.
Not so easily identified, but nev-
ertheless very real, are the sue
cession of taxes that catch building
material during its progression from
raw product In forest and mine to
finished material delivered at the
site. For illustration. lumber must
pass 80 separate and distinct tax
hurdles between tree and building.
There are other building materials
and devices less prominent than
lumber which are compelled to
breast six times as many tax bar
riers as lumber. I,
Charges Pyramided.
"The gross per dollar cost of SELL
ing materials for building has added
to gross building production charges
about 2.5 per cent Thus, the gross
production charges for small build
ing between 1926 and 1898 have been
pyramided by an approximate total
Of about 20 per cent.
Before real economies can be
practiced in building, there has got
to be volume business. Volume
business will not be possible until
there is general employment and a
marked reduction Of taxes. Marked
reduction of taxes can come only
by taking every bodied person
of relief and giving him a Job where
he has to make good by actually
earning the wages he gets. It is a
fundamental principle Of economics
that a country's relative prosperity
Is dependent upon the percentage
Of its population who are producers
Of real property.
"The personnel in building indus
try was formerly among the largest
customers for small building as well
as Of other necessity merchandise.
At the same time, they were large
buyers Of building securities, indus
trial stocks and bonds. Put building
mechanics back to work and their
added spending will make all other
business prosperous"