Evening star., 1950-12-30
Sing|e-FamiIy Unit
Construction Sets
AN-Time D. T.. Record
Continued From Page BID

Continued From Page BID
Fourth street NV, the SO millior
Red Cross building just startins
at Twenty first and E streets
NV, additions to the Nationa
Airport Terminal to cost about 5.
million and a SO million shop
laundry and storage building a
the National Institute of Health
for which a contract was JUS
signed.
Mr.. Nelson pointed out tha
office buildings started. completed
or under way this year includ,
the Editors Building, the Cafritz
Building, the National Gamer,
Building, the Hecht Co., Silver
Spring addition, the Wyatt Build.
ing, the Washington Post Build.
ing, Woodward & Lothrop's
Bethesda store, the Lenox Build
ing. the American Legion Build
ing, the World Center Building,
the Wire Building, the addition
to the Chesapeake g. Potomac
Telephone Co. and others.
Many Churches Constructed.
A large number of houses of
worship have been completed or
put under way this year, Mr..
Nelson pointed out. Among these
are the New York Avenue Pres
byterian Church, the Addas Israel
Synagogue. Our Lady of Leurdes
Church. First Church of Christ
Scientist in Chevy Chase, Trinity
Episcopal Church and others.
Hospital additions, he recalled,
included two for st. Elizabeths
Hospital and one for the Childrens
Hospital.
Schools, likewise, have added
substantially to District area con-
struction activity, he pointed out.
Breaking down residential con-
struction into areas, Mr.. Riley ex-
planned that Prince Georges
County led all other sections In
postwar home building. This
county accounted for more than
one Of every four new units. Post
war construction more than
doubled the number of dwelling
units in this country. The new
units were divided almost equally
between homes and apartments,
with approximately $4,000 of each
being started during the 5-year
period.
Few Apartments Started.
Most Of the large apartment
projects now studding the area
were begun In 1948 and 1949. Rela-
lively few apartments were started
In 1850. when the emphasis was on
single-family homes, as in 1947
and earlier years.
Mr.. Riley continued:
"Over $4,000 new dwelling units
were started within the District
since January, 1916; two out of
three of these were rental units.
In contrast, single-family homes
predominated in Montgomery
County residential building. There
were more single-family homes
started in Montgomery County
than in any other part of the
Washington area during The post
war period. In fact, this county S
new housing actually accounted
for almost one-third of the areas
single-family starts over the past
five years.
Fairfax County (including
Falls Church, has been the most
rapidly growing part of the area.
Postwar home building added well
over one and a half times the
number Of units standing in the
county at the end of World War
II. In the 5-year postwar period,
almost $4,000 new units were
started. Eleven thousand were
single-family homes; the re-
mainder includes the huge Shirley
Duke project, with over 2,100
apartments.
Arlington Growth Continues.
Arlington County continued its
growth during the postwar period
by the addition of an estimated
10,420 units. Although throughout
the period multi-family structures
have been the most common type
of residential building in Arling-
ton. 1850 showed a return to the
single-family home, with very few
rental units being started.
The construction cost of l.
family houses started in the
Washington area during 1850 av-
eraged S11,100 according to pre-
liminary estimates. This is 13
per cent higher than the average
of $4,000 for the previous year,
and exceeds by more than third
the average cost of $4,000 for
single-family homes started In
1916.
These cost figures include la
bor, materials, all subcontracted
work, and the contractors profit
and overhead chargeable directly
to the project. They do not in
clude land and development costs
or profit on the sale of the house
The averages relate to all units
started, and not to any typical OF
standard house.
However. the trends in build
ing material prices and earnings
of construction workers are help
full in indicating what has hap
pened to building costs. The in
dex of wholesale prices of build
ing materials advanced by 81 per
cent from January 1916, to Oc-
tober 1850. from October 1949 to
October 1850. the index rose 1e
per cent. Average hourly earn
ings for building construction
workers passed the So mark ir
July 1850. and have continued tt
advance each month They are