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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1907)
lO THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 20, 1907. FALL TRANSFERS GROWING RAPIDLY Predictions of Summer Being Realized in Volume of Realty Business. LOCAL MARKET IS STRONG Nothing in Present Conditions to In dicate Slump in Prices, and Building Operations Shn Xo Signs of Diminution. By making an examination of the published transfers in real estate for the present month it will be found that the expectations of the Summer are being realized. In point of numbers the transfers foot up an average of 55 a day. and in point of amounts they are above the Summer transactions Involving large gums. Most of the leading real estate firms say business is picking up rapidly, and among those handling the recently platted tracts the report is of a much larger business than was transacted in the two last Summer months. In fa-ct, the record of sales for the past pek in all instances for suburban lots equaled that of last Spring and Winter, when there was great activity in that class of prop erty, and in some Instances exceeded thflti period. This renewed activity is not confined to any particular locality, for lots are selling both in the Heights district of the West Side and all along the out skirts of the great iast Side in about equal proportions. The concerns handling Council Crest. Portland Heights and Wllamette Heights lots say sales are unusually heavy, and in the larger pieces suitable for expen sive improvements there are' indications of continued demand from wealthy res idents and from rich people arriving from other states who have visited Portland and propose to return and make this their future home. There is also a good demand from those in more moderate circumstances who pre fer the advantages offered in that stretch of hilltop to life In the level and crowded sections of the city. The firms handling lots in the va rious new East Side plots, as for in stance. Rose City Park, Belle Crest, Irvlngton, Ladd's Addition, and others of that description, report sales satis factory, with no indication of a fall ing off for months to come. One of the dealers who has been in the real estate business in Port land for many years yesterday called attention to the fact that wage-earners are buying homes to a greater degree now than ever before in his recollec tion. . He explained that this is made possible through the fact that artisans and other workmen are now enjoying a longer period of continuous employ ment than for many years past, and have come to realize that an invest ment in a home is decidedly the best one1 he can possibly make. He pointed out that making of homes by wage earners results in creating a better class of citizens, for observation teaches that men with homes of their own are seldom carried away with the1 wild statements of professional agita tors and take more interest in civic affairs. The building up of a Greater Portland, he said, is now in the hands of men working steadily at high wages. Xew Tracts Platted. One of the more recent tracts platted and being prepared for putting on the market is to be named Dover, the property being what was formeily known as the Chase tract lying south of Woodstock. Grading of the tract is now under way and water is to be introduced in the near future. During the last week sales of lots in Rose City Park represented values of over $6000 and the class of buyers Is said to be of a high order in nearly, every Instance being reople who have the ready money ''to build. Fourteen dwellings and a business block are either under way now in that suburb or are contracted fof. As an indica tion of what will be done there within the next few months, a wealthy East ern doctor who came to Portland some 'weeks ago was so favorably impressed with the site that he bought several lots and upon his return to Cincinnati telegraphed to the firm from whom he purchased the lots to reserve for him another adjoining, and in a letter stated that he intended to return to this city in a short time and let con tracts for a house for himself, taking three lots for the house and surround ing yards. It is said by those in a position to know the facts that not a great amount of Eastern capital has entered Into the improvement of Portland in the way of large buildings, the canital so far employed beng either local or com-' ing from other Pacific Coast points. The fear, therefore, that stringency In money in the East may result in re tarding large undertakings in the way of business blocks is not shared by real estate men, and the fact that sev eral big buildings are soon to be add ed to those already up or projected would seem to prove this iew of the matter. Dwellings Show Lead. By far the largest amount of busi ness now being done Is in building lots suitable for dwellings and in fac tory and wholesale locations. By that is meant that no office building sites are changing hands, so far as re ported during the week. By the time the Corbett. Commercial Club, Board of Trade and the projected Failing at -Yamhill and Fifth are ready for oc cupnn"y. It is the opinion of the trade that plenty of office space will be pro vided for probably another year. On the other hand, nearly two years are necessary for completing a modern sky scraper, so that with the growth of Portland continuing at the rate it has for the last three years many more office buildings will return good pro fit on Investment. O. W. Taylor, of Hartman & Thomp son, in referring to present conditions in the real estate market, said yester day: Reasons for Prosperity. "I can see nothing to indicate any thing but continued prosperity in Port land. There are nine good reasons to account for present and prospective ac tivity in real estate and nothing to indicate either a boom or a slump in the market just a' good healthy condl ton. My reasons for our prosperity are: "Railroad building: increase of popu lation; timber buyers: building opera tions; large harvest and high prices: city Improvements; railway extensions; platting of c,ity acreage, making It pos sible for. wage-earners to own their own homes; the coming to Portland of .wealthy citizens from surrounding towns, notably J. E. Veness of Chehalls, Peter Autzen of Hoqulam, Menefee of Texas, and C P. Moores of Salem. Moorss purchased recently a quarter block in Holladay and the plans are now being drawn for a $25,000 resi dence. Veness Is building a $25,000 home on Nob Hill. Autzen has bought one in Irvlngton for $12,000; and Men efee bought on Portland Heights. "Two years ago if anyone bought a home at a cost of $7500. the papers would. write a column about it under a big head. Now, unless the transfer amounts to more than $15,000, it gets no more than, a paragraph. "The Portland Railway Company's purchase of a block in the old retail section has restored values in that dis trict., The money which that com pany will set afloat in this city by the construction of their new depot will materially aid fn the continuance of 'the present prosperity. "Portland is rapidly becoming the wholesale trade center of the Pacific Northwest. Since three years Thir teenth street then lined wth small cottages and homes of working men has become a wholesale street with four-story brick warehouses on nearly every corner. The railroad track on that steet . handles scores of freight cars daily. Fifteenth street is no long er a desrable residence district but . is prospective business. Prices have trebled. The removal of the Willam ette Iron Works to North Portland and the construction of another spur track on York street has opened a desirable gggi 'THUS, j 1 f rpf"" - Tgr" -if3 - A f 512 to i z & lj hi Sill Mi r;-l s&i, 7 THIl C Ml ni l B. H. CHAPMAN APARTMENTS, location for small factories and ware houses desiring trackags. Values have doubled and trebled in this vicinity. "Our hotels are overcrowded and the old mansions of the wealthy a decade or more ago have been turned Into boarding-houses. The new hotel on Eleventh and Stark streets and the Oregon. Annex will not suffice to take care of the transient travel that comes fiom the surroundng country, to say nothing of that from the East. "A great bulk of our building opera tions has been by home capital. East ern men, however, were quick to see the possibilities for investment and two of the principal business blocks in the city have been 'leased for a long' term of years for the construction of modern skyscrapers. "The completion of the new roads into Portland will also have a stimu lating effect on property values, for with the line from Salem and the Hill road there is certain to come a large increase in shopping, which will mean not only larger stores but more, of them in order to take care of this growth." Move to Modern Quarters. A noticeable movement in the old part of the city is in recent removals from the streets near, the river to lo calities up town. Several firms have already taken larger and more modern quarters than they formerly occupied, and this class of building Is the sort to be found in the section west of, say. Third street rather than in the "high 1 : vn SL H I; --v. ji : i .i-iar NEW RESIDENCE OF G. HEITKEMPER. AT EAST ELEVENTH AND WEIDLER STREETS, ERECTED AT A COST OF 95000. water" district. It Is to be noted, how ever, that as soon as the smaller houses arc. vacated they are promptly taken by firms which do not require as much room as those going up town. This is taken as another edence of the con stant demand for business property. Good Demand in Southeast. 1 A quarter block at Nashville, a prosper ous settlement 'on the Mount Scott Rail way, covered with buildings, has been sold by Whiting & Rountree, for $10,000. There is no abatement In building activ ity in this suburb along the Mount Scott Railway. Sales of lots for the home builder are dally made here. ' Charles M. Keep sold to Amanda Evatt south 60 feet of lot 23, block 1. on the Mount Scott line, for $3000. This, is In the growing town of Lents. Sales of residence lots all through the southeastern district are numerous and erection of homes go forward in like order. v LOTS FINDING SALE Lively Transactions in East Side Properties. WANT BUSINESS LOCATIONS Outlying Acreage Attracts Purchas ers, as Well as Building Sites in Settled Portions of District, During Past Week. Bales of all kinds of East Side property were lively the past week, including busi ness locations. In the latter class a half block on East Yamhill street between Union avenue and East Third street FLANDER STREET, BETWEEN TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST STREETS. changed hands for $21,600. C. D. ' Brunn sold this property to the Oregon Realty Company. It is located in what is called the warehouse district, and is the most important transfer made there for some time. Peter Autzen, of St. John, pur chased a lot and a half lot 9 and the west half of lot 12. block 10. in John Irving's first addition for $10,750. The property is located on East Twentieth and Schuyler streets and contains a modern house. Mr. Autzen ia president of the St. John Commercial Club. J. V. Beach has sold' his home at 661 East Ankeny street to W. T. Branch, formerly City Auditor of Portland. Large acreage transfers were made, in cluding the sale of 140 acres to Mayor J. M. Short, of Gresham; 160 acres sold to John Franz for $3000, and the sale of 300 acres by the German Savings & Loan Company to E. Gurney for $io00. Jumer ous sales of tracts ranging from five to ten acres were made. Francis Clarno has just concluded the purchase of some flats on the 50-foot lot on Goldsmith street, near Broadway, for $11,000. The property was .owned by I. A. Peters. The flats are modern and up to date, and yield a revenue equal to 10 per cent net on the purchase price. Property at the east end of the Steel bridge has advanced considerably the past year, and a considerable business center has been built up thre. . Deals in Residence Property. Mrs. Mary Miller has purchased a house and lot in North Alblna, near Killings worth avenue. A Mather has purchased the residence 6f W. B. Reynolds, located in Hawthorne Addition, for $3300. A. G. Rushlight has sold to Mrs. Emma A. Freytag a quarter block at the northeast corner of East Tenth and Eatt Caruthers streets for $3700. This property is in Ste phens' Addition. A. M. Lull sold to Lewis Propp a house and lot on East Ninth near East Sherman street. Stephens' Addition, for $3400. On East Thirteenth and Morri son streets a residence and three lots were purchased by Leonore F. Nowlin from Wertmire for $3800. Carrie Stevens Turner and J. M. Turner have sold to Sallle R. Price lots 3 and 4, block 29. Center Addition, for $3500. At the High School Addi tion, E. E. Miller sold to F. E. Baker lots 12 and 13, block -2. for $2300. In Stephens' Addition, J. S. Foss sold to Martha M. Taylor lot 8, block 115, for $5000. R. C. Brooke sold to James W. Arm strong lot 9, block 16. for $4000. The property consists of a, house and lot on East Twenty-ninth and East Davis streets. G. E. Walling recently purchased six lots In Excelsior, on the Woodstock Railway, and within two weeks of the time of making the purchase he sold the lots at a substantial advance to G. E. Berry, of Condon. Or. - Louis Plnkham aold to . Sarah A. Hyatt lot 14, block 16, In Piedmont, for $3000, the property being a house and lot. In West Irvlngton, Herbert N. LaDow sold to Florence M.' Sturdevarit lot 3. block 92. for $4150. ' ' Farm Land in Demand. Heavy transfers of farm and acreage property have been made the past week. Dr. J. M. Short, of Gresham, purchased 140 acres of farm land from W. F. Speer for $14,500. This land Is located near Lusted Hill, on the Sandy River. It Is the largest tract of land sold in that neighborhood for several years. Approach of the Mount Hood Railway has caused advance In all farm lands, improved or unimproved. In that locality. In Powell Valley, William H. English sold 20' acres to John M. Bennett for $3000. This tract is located at the In tersection of the Powell Valley, road and .the Alonzo Gates donation land claim. The German Savings & Loan Com pany has sold to Edmund Gurney 300 acres in section 22, township 1 north, range 1 west, for $15,000. Bruce Wol verton has purchased 10 acres of A. B. Nunn for $1200. George P. Lent sold to William War. fel eight acres for $1500. The land is near Lents. C. N. Rankin purchased 21 acres In the Hazelwood tract near Clarnle of A. W. Lambert for $2100. Leslie A. Langrey sold 14 acres on the Base Line road to Thomas Mathes. the price being $6000. It was the property of the Mount Hood Poultry Company and is Improved land, with some buildings. Mrs. Emma Fitzgerald sold 80 acres on Columbia Slough to James P. Rob inson for $4700. The land is part of the Taylor donation land claim. James K. Locke sold five acres In the Kelly donation land claim to E. A. Smith for $3000. Charles H. Osborn has sold to D. W. Marsh 10 acres at a price not an nounced, and Charles H. Griswold, ad ministrator, sold 12 acres to Charles H. Griswold. Electric W ires to Forts' Artillery. PORT TOWNSEND, Wash., Oct. 19. Two massive cables containing a suf ficient number - of electric wires to reach every gun mounted at Forts Casey, Flagler and Worden are being laid by the Government, connecting them with the range-finding stations Just completed here. Holder This company is holding properties under .various forms of trust, the owners finding it a great convenience, as well as an economical ' method of handling. The decease of any one of a number of hold ers of title to property ties up that property until it can pass through the courts a tedious, cumbrous and expensive proceeding. If placed with the trust company, under properly written directions, all this can be avoided. . You can feel perfectly free to consult us relative to any phase of your properties or estate. Merchants Savings & Trust Company 247 Washington St - Capital fully paid . J. ' FRANK WATSON R. L. DURHAM W. H. FEAR S. C. CATCHING.' O. W. T. MUELLHAUPT BEGIN SOON BIG SWIFT PLANT Plans Embrace Structures to Occupy 2000 Acres, In- eluding Stockyards. EAST SIDE LIBRARY FUND Sellwood Declares In Favor of Inde pendent Sewer System for Grow 1 lng Suburb, Which Will Take Three Years to Complete. One of the most important announce ments of the past week was that Swift & Company were to start on the initial construction of their big packing plant on Columbia Slough within the next two months, and that the main build ing will be a seven-story structure, covering four blocks. There will be a four-acre space on each of the floors of this structure. C. C. Colt, local man ager of the company, left for Chicago the past week to expedite the prepar ation of the plans andspeclflcatlons. There will be the cold-storage, en gine house and packing plant, so that, with the Stock-Yards, it is estimated that 2000 of the 3000-acre tract owned by the company will be used for the plant, making it ' one of the great est Industries In the Northwest. Dredging for a ship channel to the Willamette and Columbia Rivers is go ing forward steadily. It Is proposed to cut a 40-foot channel so that the larg est ships can float to the plant. The committee of 50 citizens ap pointed to canvass the East Side for funds for the East Side library build ing will meet next Wednesday night. October 23, in the rooms of the East Side Club, on the top floor of the Sar gent, corner Grand and Hawthorne avenues, to lay out the work. O. M. Scott, H. H. Prouty and Joseph Buch tel, the original committee, have made some preliminary plans for this work, but the details are yet to be worked out. All pastors of churches in the terri tory that will be benefited by the li brary building, and principals of schools, will be asked to constitute a supplementary committee, to assist in the work. The mark set to be reached is $25,000. It Is hoped to secure this amount by a large number of small subscriptions, and if all pull together It is thought the goal may be reached. Some people have raised the question why tax money is not raised to erect this building, but the answer is forth coming that the law provides that such funds shall be used solely for Ihainte nance, and not for building purposes. New Depot Assured. It now appears that East Portland will have a passenger depot adequate and in line with the progress in that portion of the city. In a conference last Monday between General Manager J. P. O'Brien and C. L. Ives, engineer rep resenting a concrete-block manufacturing concern, it was decided to change the nlans of the deoot from a frame structure for one of concrete blocks The proposition Mr. Ives made was that he would manufacture blocks on the ground with one of his machines at the bare cost of the material and labor. The proposition met with the general manager's approval, and it was agreed to accept it. Mr. Ives was as sured that the plans of the depot would, be changed to conform to the new material to be used. The depot will be 190x50 feet, and will be an attractive structure. Located on East Morrison and First streets, it will be convenient to the Morrison-street bridge. A foundation of concrete or wood piles will be driven, and then the site will be filled up either by the Port of Portland dredge or by gravel hauled in by cars. It is estimated that the cost of the building under the new plans will be a little more than the frame structure would have cost, which was $15,000. - Property-owners of Sellwood have declared, through1 the Sellwood Board of Trade, for the construction of a complete system of sewerage for that suburb. At present there are between 4000 and 5000 people in Sellwood. It is so located that it cannot be attached to the Brooklyn sewer district, and hence must be provided with an inde pendent system, at a cost of not less of Titles $150,000.00 4 President .Vice-President Secretary Assistant Secretary Cashier Stint yourself, as you think good, in other things; but don't scruple freedom in brightening home. Gay furniture and a brilliant garden are a sight day by day, and make life blither Buxton A HOMESITE MADE TO YOUR ORDER Could you have been present when Nature first fashioned the abodes where men would one day live, with all the intelligence of the creative power, there is nothing you could have added to Irvington Park to make it a more desirable home place than it already is. From the standpoint of scenery, healthfulness, proximity to the activities of city life, intrinsic loveliness and every modern day con venience, you are challenged, friend, to point to a more ideal place. If it is rest you seek; if it is quietude ; if it is the solitude of the trees ; if it is a place where up-to-date building is going on, where neighbors are kind, agreeable and intelligent; all, everything that makes for a comfortable, peaceable and modest place to spend the home hours, Irving ton Park acknowledges no competitor. It awaits the man with the home spirit. The bounty of Nature modestly bows to the approach of a man who will make of her beautiful shrubbery a trim, neat lawn at little or no- expense. If there is any one thing in which a man's extravagance can be justified, it ia in making his' home what he honestly believes it should be. WHAT MORE THAN THIS COULD YOU ASK? Graded streets as fast as men and money can build them; cement sidewalks as soon as we can get the streets graded; city water already piped to almost every part of the tract; streetcars to the shopping . and business centers in 20 minutes; service every 7 minutes in the morning and every 10 minutes for the balance of the day; a 100-foot boulevard run ning through the entire property; a 14-foot alley through every block; The most excellent natural drainage; electric lights ready to connect, as well a3 the telephone ; the butcher, the baker and the grocer ready to take your order ; every lot ready for build ing; new carline to be built right to the center of the addition ; a growth of natural foliage that ia superior to the best that man could cultivate. Then add to all of these the fact that Irvington Park is at the crest of the watershed between the Willam ette and Columbia Rivers, with an inspiring view of all the gigantic mountains for a hundred miles. The air is fresh and pure, the opportunities for child development unexcelled, and everything that mortal man could possibly wish for the place that his judg ment tells him to settle upon and live restfully. F. B. HOLBROOK CO. 25Q STARK STREET - PHONE 5396 F. EL SCHWAN, E. 30th and KILLINGSWORTH "We'd make had that bay in Southern This is from a Los Angeles man, who hag seen Venice, Coronado Beach and the other resorts of the Southland make thousands for the early property-owners. HE IS ENVIOUS OF BAYOCEAN PARK You are on the ground. Like others, you have probably waited for the railroad to open up the wonderful Tillamook Bay country. Nobody now doubts 'the railroad. You have the opportunity now. Other ' people will make good use of it if you do not. Make a start toward profiting by the de velopment of Tillamook Bay. A VISIT TO THAT MODEL IN OUR OFFICE IS THE FIRST THING TO DO. Do it without delay. POTTER-CHAPIN REALTY COMPANY 402 Couch Bldgr. 109 Fourth Street KANSAS CITY PORTLAND SAN FRANCISCO a million if we and peninsula Calif ornia'