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March 18, 1916 RECORD AND GUIDE 447 CURRENT BUILDING OPERATIONS, f MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES I ■■ill ■ THE last ten days have spanned a re¬ markable change in the building outlook. A fortnight ago business was in a state of suspense. There was a lull caused by indecision on the part of builders and investors as to what should be done in the face of the rising prices of materials and the international prob¬ lems. Since then they have decided to go forward, not waiting for any im¬ probable general slump in prices, but taking advantage of the splendid public optimism, the quickening in general business, and the strengthening realty market—whatever the added cost of con¬ struction may be. More bie movements have been start¬ ed in Manhattan than at any time since the spring of 1912. more apartments in Brooklyn, more individual homes in Queens and the suburbs, more altera¬ tion work in the business sections of the city—this is the sum of the reports coming this week to the Record and Guide. Alterations work bulks large. Old New York has been built over once or twice with new buildings, now it is be¬ ing to a considerable e.xtent made over in its older parts to meet the require¬ ments of the new era. Notablv true is this in the sections south of 14th street, where the first results of the returning movement from uptown are beine re¬ ported. At the same time several large operations have been started for new commercial buildings north of 34th street. The proposed reffulations restricting the height of buildings and districting the citv are having some efifect in forcing out the new work. Hearin.gs are about to be he'd on the tentative renort of the Commission on Building Districts and Restrictions, with the probabilitv that it will not be long before a series of regulations are prornuI.gated. No doubt many nlans for buildings will be started to anticipate them. The extent of the demand for resi¬ dential housing in Manhattan can be estimated from the marked .success of the interestine: series of building opera¬ tions on the lands once covered by the estate of Loyal L. Smith in the Audu¬ bon section, between Fort Washington avenue and Riverside Drive, where sev¬ enteen or more six-story apartment houses with exceptionally lar,ge front¬ ages have been undertaken and mostly completed within a brief period. The houses have frontages of 125 to ISO feet, for the most part; one has a width of 232 feet, and another extends through from street to street. The suites, com¬ prising four to eight rooms each, with rentals rated at $11 to $15, have been rented as soon as completed. A surpris¬ ingly large proportion of the tenants come from other cities. Among building operators it is still the prevailing opinion that there will be less construction of apartment houses this year than the improved times will demand, on account of tlie higher cost of labor and material; and because there are_ cornparatively few vacancies tliis spring, in either new or old apartments in the sections subject to improvement, therewill be, in Manhattan at least, an unsatisfied demand for apartments be¬ fore the snow comes again. Advances in wages have recently been granted to structural steel erectors metallic lathers, machinists, slate and tile roofers, plasterers, rockmen and ex¬ cavators, and the carpenters have made a demand for an increase on May 1. About 75 per cent, of the union men in the building trades of the metropolitan district are working when weather per¬ mits, according to the reports of the business agents to their Central Board. The announcement of the awarding of general building contracts for two new great hotels was the sensational news of the week. The George A. Fuller Company has taken the contract for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's hotel to be erected on Seventh avenue, and announcement is made of the awarding of a contract for a hotel to cost $15,000,- 000 altogether, but with no location yet announced. The expectation is that the second hotel for the New York Central Railroad, to be erected at Lexington avenue and 42d street, will be put under contract this spring. The Vincent Astor Iiotcl project is being held in abeyance. Brick.—The one springlike day of the week saw considerable activity in the brick market, with considerable riding of tnaterial from reserve stacks. Since then, little has been done because of Wednes¬ day's storm and subsequent low ternpera- tures. Onlv two barges are left in the market, with navigation still tightly closed. The annua! inventory of the available supply at the Hudson River yards is in progress. The result will be made known the latter part of the month. Official transactions for North River brick covering the week ending Thursday, March 2, in the wholesale market. Open Barges, left over, Friday, A. M., March 10—3. Arrived. Sold. Friday. March 10............... 0 0 Saturday, March 11.............. 0 0 Monday. March 13.............. 0 0 Tupsdiy. March 14.............. 0 0 Wodnc^day, Marcb 15............ 0 1 Thursday, March 16............ 0 0 Total.......................... 0 1 Reported en route. Friday, March 17—0. Condition of market, firm : demand light. Prices, .?S 50 to .$0 (wholesale, dock. N. Y.). Cargoes left over Friday A. M.. March 17—2. Left over covered barges, 1. Open barges left over. 1, CFor plan fllines of the week see table of Real Estate Statistics on preceding page.) Structural Steel.—.'V. number of struc¬ tural steel jobs have been postponed and some are being changed into rein¬ forced concrete, but big work continues to come out. in snite of the advanced price of steel. This is the best answer to the question, What of the future? Some predictions are for a break about the first of July, but the majority opinion is that_ there will be no reces¬ sion in nuotations until the cessation of hostilities is promulgated, and that even tlien the great demand for steel will continue. Enough work is surely going ahead to give the building trades, the best outlook in years. Bids went in this week on the Cathe¬ dral Exchange of the New York Tele¬ phone Comnany at the northwest corner of lOSth street and Manhattan avenue. This building requires 800 tons of steel. Also on 700 tons for an addition to the works of the Habirshaw Electric Cable Company at Yonkers. The Kelly Con¬ struction Company was the lowest bid¬ der on the armorv at Yonkers, reoniring 200 tons of steel. Frvmier & Hanna have the e-eneral contract for the hos¬ pital buildings at Kings Park. L. I., re¬ quiring 300 tons of steel. The .State Architect takes bids on March 20 for the Long Island State Hospital im¬ provement, requiring 200 tons. The Edison Illuminating Company has postponed for the time bein" its plans for an oflice building in Pearl street. Brooklyn. The garage at 64th street and Tenth avenue will be done in leinforced concrete instead of steel, and a big regrip-erator building that is pro¬ jected for Tenth avenue, 16th and 17th streets, will also be built of concrete in- stcnd of steel. The Hay Foundry and Iron Works have booked the steel contracts for the Frederick Ayer building at Broadway and West Houston street, 2,000 tons, 250 tons for the apartment house for the George Backer Construction Co. in West 60th street, and 200 tons for an addition to the Otis Elevator Company's plant at Har¬ rison, N. J. Post & McCord were low bidders on the West 46th street pier shed requiring 4,200 tons. It is difficult to describe the demand for steel except as a "runaway market." The Iron Age says the last vestige of doubt as to its runaway character has been swept out of the way. The problem IS to get material within a reasonable time at any price. In the past year or less the cost of structural steel for build¬ ing work (including erection) has ad¬ vanced from-$50 to $85 a ton or more. The Carnegie Steel Company has ad¬ vanced the base price of bars and shapes $2 and ?5 a ton, respectively. Stone.—Secretary Fertig, of the Mar¬ ble Industry Emplovers' Association, estimates that about 60 per cent, of the union men ordinarily engaged in the marble industry have" work at the pres¬ ent time. This is the best indication of the state of trade this spring that could be given. It tells the storv for both dealers and contractors. Alterations, private house and apartment house jobs make up the bulk of the current work, with but little doing so far for large business and institutional buildings. In the eranite trade the many inquiries coniing in have not begun to develop rapidly as yet. No large granite jobs are in prospect. Only the smaller class of contracts is ofifering. Contractors are saving that the high cost of steel is holding back a great deal of construc¬ tion, and that they cannot hope for normal conditions until the war is over. According to the renort of the New York State Industrial Commission, em¬ ployment in the stone trades was mark- edlv less during January than in De¬ cember. Desnite this loss, however, there was more doing than a year ago. Electrical Goods.—General Electric has made a horizontal advance in elec¬ trical goods of 10 per cent. The com¬ panv uses on an average 1 .500.000 lbs. of copper weekly, and the ICO ner cent advance in the metal over prices pre- vailinff a year and a half a™ is reason enough for the new schedule. Another reason is that the comnanv is having the_ greatest rush of sustained buving in its history. In some lines canacitv of plants to produce is booked six and even eight months ahead. Window Glass.—Discounts to the trade have been lowered. The cause for what amounts to higher prices to con¬ sumers is ascribed to the shortage of raw materials, esnecially potash. Factories are also declining orders on account of their inabllitv to get enouo-h cars for sbipments. The Eastern demand on manufacturers for spring and summer deln-eries is large. Linseed Oil.—Leading interests ad¬ vance their card schedule to 80 cents a gallon for single barrel orders. The in¬ side quotation for carlots was raised 1 cent a .gallon, to 78 cents. Sand and Gravel.—Sand is five cents a cubic yard lower than it was in February, Init the price of naving gravel bas been advanced from 75 cents to $1 25, bv the Goodwin-Gallagher Sand and Gravel Co Subwav gravel is unchanged at 95 cents Coal.—Renorts are that the wage ad¬ vance to bituminous coal miners will add 7 to 10 cents a ton at the mine. Operators will pass the advance nion? to the wholesalers, who in turn will shift It to tbe retailers and steam coal users. It IS probable that consumers will pay 10 cents more for steam and 12 cents more for domestic coal.