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ATLANTA’S NEXT SKYSCRAPER—HURT BUILDING
COMING OF LEGISLATURE
OF HURT OFFICE BUILDING
Leading Citizens Will Make Occasion Memo
rable—One Thousand People to Find Home
In Latest Skyscraper—What It Takes to
Erect a Structure Seventeen Stories in Air.
Hurrah for Joel Hurt, master buil
der of Atlanta! His fireproof, tor
nado-proof, earthquake-proof office
building: at Edgewood Avenue and
Exchange place will be finished and
ready for occupancy October 1st. En
ter 1,000 tenants from somewhere and
commercial Atlanta will hp,ve taken
another giant stride forward! Will
this be the last office building that
is needed in Atlanta? Will the field
be overcrowded .and snug offices go
begging for the want of tenants? Will
the giant Healey Building opposite
the postoffice stand vacant?
Ask Mr. Hurt! Ask Mr*. Healey!
These captains of industry will laugh
softly: then they will explain. They
wdll tell how hosts of tenants have
already' been seeking office space*
Business men are constantly moving
upstairs, the theory' being that the
atmosphere is better up in the clouds
than it is down in the “storm cel
lar.” Whether Atlanta’s office build
ing population ever gets any higher
or not, the fact remains the same
that they find pleasure and profit in
their sky scraper homes. Every’ con
vert to the office building idea auto
matically' becomes a staunch booster
for the city.
Steel Work Celebration.
There is an earlier date in the af
fairs of the Hurt Building. This is
May 15th, when it is calculated all
the steel work will be finished. The
steel girders are going up just as
fast as huge derricks can carry them
and nimble fingers can place and
rivet them. Four stories a week
from on will be the rate of progress 1
In this particular and important de
partment of the job. Then in May
Mr. Hurt will call off his workmen
for a little w'hile, to celebrate the
completion of steel frame-work as
an epoch-making event in the life of
the structure. Again in October
there* wdll bo a public celebration, but !
this time it will be more auspicious,
and townsmen gathered round wdll
be glad. Another office building wdll
be opened for business among sister
office buildings. When a battleship
is launched in the seaport towns, the
people flock by the thousands to wit
ness the sight, and Mr. Hurt intends
that when his office building is
“launched,” a representative group of
Atlantans shall be present to wish
her well. There will be many people
blocking Edgew'ood Avenue and Ex
change Place, and their chosen lead
ers will regale them with fitting ora
tory.
Harking Backward,
■When Mr. Hurt’s dream of an of
fice- building for Atlanta came true
in 1891 in the erection of the Equita
ble Building, structures of this siae
and height were considered curiosi
ties in the South. They did not ex
ist. Hence the completion of the
Equitable was the occasion for a cu
rious gathering, like a circus come to 1
a country town. Now the feeling of j
curiosity has changed to a feeling
of civic pride, and it is in this spirit
that the people of Atlanta wdll attend !
Mr. Hurt’s latest “party.”
The Hurt Building Is no more a
cause of wonder than the separate!
units in the community of
structures of which it is one, unless
its unique architecture is to be con
sidered as a tc."w apart from the j
building itself. It is a future throb
bing reality which is to pulsate with
the life of a thousand pigmy soulsj
wrapped up in its broad confines.
• Hard to Describe.
The inside story of an office build
ing. with all its wonderful mechani
cal devices and the vast amount of
labor, time and money that its parts
represent, has never been perfectly
told. Like the giant battleship in thi
making, it is impossible of ideal de
scription. The cumbersome masses
of iron and steel, the power of lifting
machines, the resounding w'hacks
w’hich the unresisting metals of na
ture fling back at little man in his
feeble attempts to pierce and shape
them—all these are awe-inspiring in
the extreme.
The pedestrian who stops long
enough before the Hurt Building
skeleton finds out that this is true.
The constant clank, clank of ham
mers on steel, the noisy exhaust of
engines used to lift heavy things, the
whirr of wheels going round at a
thousand revolutions a minute are a
convincing reminder that the’ witness
is in the very heart of the steaming
city.
Seventeen Stories High.
Figures in the office of Building In
spector Ed R. Hays show that the
Hurt Building is to cost $700,000 and
be 17 stories high. The cost will
run above this figure, maybe to $800,-
000, before Mr. Hurt is done paying
his bills. The building will be lo
cated in the apex of the little trian
gle bounded by Edgewood Avenue
and Exchange Place, and will be ex
tended at some future time to
cover the entire block, the other
boundary street being Ivy. Some
125 men are at work on the building,
and the number will be Increased lat
er. Several thousands of people in
shops about the country are working
on various features of the job. Pay
rolls are $5,000 a w r eek, which is over
five times what President Wilson
gets for handling things at Washing
ton.
Proof Against the Elements.
The steel in the Hurt Building is
designed to withstand high wind and
earthquake disturbances. Such a ca
lamity as recently happened in Oma-
PEACHTREE LOTS
AT HIT STREET
So Predicts W. P. Walthall, Well
Known Realty Man, Looking
Forward a Year.
That Peachtree property as far
north as the Ivy Street Junction wdll
go to $2,000 a front foot in a year;
that the interurban railway line to
Macon wdll start in the neighborhood
of Ivy and Gilmer Streets; and via
ducts be built over the railroad tracks
at Pryor Street and Central Avenue
is the prediction of W. P. Walthall,
of the Forrest and George Adair
Real Estate Agency. Mr. Walthajl
is known as one of the best-posted
real estate men in the city and
State. He writes most of the adver
tisements for the Adair Agency, and
a large following looks regularly for
his clear-cut real estate philosophy.
Here are some of Mr. Walthall’s
reflections and predictions, written in
the style that has made a name for
him:
"Truly time is the mother of won
ders. Who would have dreamed a
few r years ago of the things that have
happened In Atlanta?* Who would
have Imagined that Peachtree, the
peerless residence street of the South,
W'ould in such a short time be aban
doned as far out as Ponce DeLeon?
Anyone w’ho would have made such
a prediction w’ould have been consid
ered as wild as Cassandra. For this
stronghold of wealth and fashion to
be literally captured by commercial
ism in a few short years is the mar
vel of the real estate world! It
shows how mutable are the works of
man, how inevitable is the commer
cial progress of cities.
Destruction’s Compensations.
“There is compensation in the de
struction of Peachtree residentially,
for as its desirability for home pur
poses vanished the land rose rapidly
in value. Fine residences, costing as
much as $25,000, were ignored In the
calculations of the value of proper
ty-roll them around on the side!
street or tear them down and use the
material to build garages. Underly
ing ground value went up so fast j
that the cost of a modern residence
w as absorbed and lost sight of. When
frontage goes from $200 a foot up to
$1,000, a foot there is such a wide
margin that you can afford to ignore
what the house cost. Such are
changes that time has wrought on
Peachtree; between Ellis Street and
Ponce DeLeon Avenue. Of the own
ers w r ho lived there a few years ago
a very few remain.
“It looks now’ as if Peachtree front
age will go to $2,000 a foot out as
far as the Ivy Street Junction. Next
year's trading will likely carry the
prices up to this figure. Certainly
those lots which have a special ad
vantage. either corners or those run
ning to West Peachtree and Ivy
Street, will go to $2,000 a foot.
Wouldn't such a statement have
sounded wild a few years ago? Well,
we would never have made such a
statement a few years ago, but now’
the way is clear. The little work
done at Baker Street makes such a
remarkable change in the appearance
of things. It is, indeed, educational.
Until recently Harris Street seemed
way out, now’ in coming up Peach
tree toward town you seem to be go
ing right into the retail shopping dis
trict at Harris. Ii all shows how the
business district in Atlanta has
spread out In the last few years.
Joel Hurt’s Operations.
“Is Peachtree the only section to
talk about? Let us dip into the fu
ture as far as human eye can see. A
new factor has recently entered into
the situation: the operations of Joel
Hurt. From now on any serious dis
cussion of the future of Atlanta real
estate must take into- consideration
these operations. Mr. Hurt has an
nounced building improvements cost
ing four million dollars, covering his
entire holdings on Edgewood Avenue,
Ivy Street, Exchange Place and Gil
mer Stroets. The Auditorium sec
tion, which now has the appearance
of being disconnected from the cen
ter, will be closely knitted up to the
heart of the city by h high-class
building development. The effect will
be far-reaching. We are of the opin
ion that .Edgewood Avenue frontage
as far down asc Piedmont Avenue,
will go to $1,000 a foot in next year's
trading.
Continued on Page 2, Column 3,
“Right now’ there is a discrepancy
in prices on Edgewood Avenue and
the other four streets whose junction
makes Five Points. The discrepancy
can be seen by taking an arbitrary
street number, for example, the num
ber 100. On Edgewood Avenue No.
100 is about half way between Ivy
and Courtland Streets and at this
Peterses, Ansleys, Adairs and Riv
erses Noted for Home Sites
They Have Built.
point values now run about $1,000 a
foot. On Peachtree No. 100 would
be at the Piedmont Hotel; on Mar
ietta Street the same number would
be at the Gas Building, and on
Whitehall Street a little beyond the
Chamberlin -Johnson-DuBoso Store.
On the last-mentioned streets at No.
100 values range from $3,000 to $6,000
a foot. There wdll be a tendency for
Edgewood Avenue to trade up to-
w’ard these valuations.
That Macon Project.
“Interurban travel will play an im
portant part in the city’s future. The
Macon project is such a sensible and
feasible thing that it will keep on
knocking at the doors of capital un
til the line is built. This line will
land in the vicinity of Ivy and Gil
mer Streets, pouring a large neigh
boring population into Atlanta at
these points. In large cities shoppers
come in to town more on interurban
lines than to terminal stations, which
accommodate the hotel travel. The
east side of Atlanta has a great fu
ture in store for it as a retail shop
ping district. The merchant who gets
a good lease on a store in the vicin
ity of Hurt’s buildings will be w r ell
paid for his enterprise and foresight
“Another thing not yet accomplish
ed, yet sure to be done, is the aboli
tion of grade crossings at Pryor
Street and Central Avenue. It stands
to reason that no well-managed city
of approximately 200,000 population
will much longer permit a grade cros
sing on important cross-town streets
right in the very heart of the city.
Everywhere else the railroads have
either voluntarily lowered their
tracks or been compelled to do so, and
it is reasonable to assume that some
day Atlanta will follow the example
of other cities. North and south
trolley cars will go up Pryor Street,
Central Avenue and Washington
Street Viaducts, as some day the limit
will be reached and every car cannot
be routed through on Whitehall and
Broad Streets,
“It takes no prophetic eye to see
the wholesale trade dropping down j
on the South Side between the big i
freight terminals. As leases expire
on the north side, wholesale space*
is cut up into shops, and the whole
saler must drop down. Here he can
VERY FEW VACANCIES
IN APARTMENT HOUSES
Apartment house owners report
very few apartments vacant. For
every tenant moving out there arc
two who want to move in;
The apartlnent house idea in At
lanta has been of the past decade. As
early as 1900 !t was Impossible to
find half a dozen or more families
living in the same establishment, but
to-day the apartment is considered a
necessity. There are nearly 100 of
the larger apartments and countless
small ones.
get the area he requires at reason
able prices. Many strong concerns
are fortifying themselves against the
future by establishing In good build
ings on 10 and 20 year leases. Streets
like Central Avenue, Pryor, White
hall, Forsyth, Madison Avenue, Trin
ity Avenue and Garnett Street afford
the location for such concerns. You
can see the pioneers there now; many
others will follow.”
PRICES ON SOUTH SIDE
ARE STEADILY RISING
“Hope eternal” sprung up in the
breasts of South Side property own
ers Thursday, when an enthusiastic
meeting was held in the Chamber of
Commerce rooms in the Empire
Building to discuss Whitehall re
grading. South Side property prices
have long been considered too low,
and the enthusiasm of one happy
brother caused him to rise and ex
claim, “Double mine!”
HOKE STREET PROPERTY
TO BE SOLD FOR HEIR
Walter M. Gilmer, guardian of Roy
Gilmer, has given public notice that
he will sell for reinvestment the first
Monday in May a one-fifth interest in
a tract of land lying on Hoke Street,
50 by 200 feet. 85 feet west of Hemp
hill Avenue, the same being the inter
est of the said Roy Gilmer, a minor,
in the estate of hii5 mother, Mrs. Lucy
Gilmer, deceased.
Lot at Corner of Peachtree and Cain
Streets Is Sought by Realty Men.
Peachtree Road Proposition Brew
ing Among Prominent LandOwners.
When the State Legislature con
venes the fourth Wednesday In June,
It is sure to be faced again with thw
problem of a proper disposition of the
Governor’s Mansion at the southwest
orner of Peachtree and Cain Streets.
Already there is a movement on foot
to offer a site on Peachtree Road,
and it is unnecessary to say that
many other locations will be placed
at the disposal of the Legislature.
Past offers make this a foregone con
tusion. At the summer session in
1911 a committee listened to a **core
or more of offers. Suggestions were
made that the mansion be put on
Capitol Square, on Washington
Street, !n Ansley Park, on East Hun
ter Street, on Peachtree Street, on
Peachtree Road, in Druid Hill*, on
the South Decatur car line near the
Soldiers’ Home, and on Ponce DeLeon
Avenue near the Georgian Terrace.
After deliberations in which gal
lons of “midnight oil” were consumed,
the committee threw down the job
and has not taken it up since. There
were several things In the way. In
the first place, the committee could
not decide whether the Governor's
Mansion site should be sold or leased;
then there were so many real estate
agents willing to take over the poor
old parcel and provide a new home
that the lawmakers could not decide
definitely and unanimously where the
Governor’s home should be. An inno
cent little advertisement of the prop
erty had opened the proverbial “Pan
dora's box of trouble,* and the result
of the deliberations was that the mat
ter was dropped—until it should be
revived again.
Revival of Question Due.
This revival is coming from a num
ber of interesting sources, principal
among which is the Peachtree Road
source, and the outcome will be
watched with great Interest. The
Peachtree Road sortie is sure to be
met with a Druid Hills response; and
Ansley Park sallies will call for ech
oes from the South Side and sub
urban districts that man knows not
of. Droid Hills sot a little better
than a dogfall in the last contest
The committee went on record as
favoring a mansion site in Druid
Hills, wdth two dissenting voices.
Now’, the committee considers the
matter a part of unfinished business,
and as for the committee itself, why,
it is long since dissolved. A new
committees will have to b© chosen
and the whole .ground gone over
again, the difference being that there
will be a great many more proposals
than before, and consequently much
more worry to the fatherly legisla
tors.
Real estate men declare it has been
a long time between bids. Think of
waiting two full years before at
tempting to gobble up that rich real
ty morsel on classic Peachtree—the
Governor's Mansion! How’ the real
estate fraternity passed over 1912
without sending “memorials” to the
Legislature is one of the seven won
ders. Legislators don’t know how to
explain It, but they know, and know’
full well, that the rest was a much-
needed one, when ordinary State
business had to be reckoned with as
usual.
What Time Has Done.
Adding to their mental pabulum
through a season of deep reflection,
however, the land brokers aro pre
pared for a fresh onslaught which
promises to net results. They are
fairly chuckling in their sleeves over
the propositions which have sprung
up in the meantime. The old offers
to take over the State property are
rather threadbare, and they won’t
stand patching. A completely new-
set of “resolutions” will be laid be
fore the committee. Property has
been creeping up in the price scale
these two years. The State will ex
pect more for the mansion, bur the
realty experts also have a card. If
any swapping is done, the Legisla
ture's committee of property will
have to figure on advanced prices on
the other side.
Would anybody be foolish enough
to offer the Marlborough property,
northwest corner of Peachtree and
Pine, at $600 a foot w’hen It will
bring $1,200?
Hardly!
Can the State expect to get for
$16,000 the 'beautiful 205-foot cor
ner lot in Druid Hills with 491 feet
on a curve?
Not at the prevailing rate!
Could a lot at the northern junction
of the Peach trees, fronting 200 feet
on each street, be bought to-day for
$40,000. and could the northeast or
the southwest corner of Peachtree
and Sixth Streets be acquired for the
paltry sum of $35,000?
Hardly again!
Members on Old Committee.
The legislative Committee on
Property in 1911 was composed of
Joseph A. Davis, chairman; Henry
A. Matthews, Hooper Alexander. J.
R. McCollum. H. .f. Fullbright. Carl
Vinson and Joe Hill Hall—seven leg
islators true, capable of deciding “this
momentous question with never a tie
vote. Mr. Alexander was appointed a
committee of one to set forth why the
property should not be sold, but
leased, and Mr. Hall was appointed
a committee of one to recite why the
Continued on Page 2, Column 3.
There are several Atlantans whose
names will go down In the history of
the city as home-makers for a con
siderable percentage of the local pop
ulation, and whose works wdll stand
as long as time. Atlanta has long
since gained the distinction of being
a city of homes, and, consequently,
when announcement is made that a
new and extensive residence section
is to be opened up for home-seekers
or that such a section is nearing
completion cordial interest centers
around it.
The Peters family, the Ansleys and
the Adairs will always be remem
bered in local history as idealists of
the highest type in land culture and
home-Buildlng. E. Rivers, head of
the E. Rivers Realty Company, cornea
In this class. Like the other pa-
trtoHc A'tlahthns, hO Ms put aside a
small measure of gratification In the
present to enjoy a large measure .of
it in the future.
Mr. Rivers’ Life Work.
Three years ago. when Mr. Rivers
and his associates, including some of
the best known business men of At
lanta, bought the Wesley (’oilier tract
on the western side of Peachtree
Road, just beyond Peachtree Creek
and the city limits, Mr. Rivers made
this remark: “I expect to make the
development of Peachtree Heights
Park my life work. If the park is
completed and the lots sold to home
builders within ten years I shall have
achieved part of my ambition.”
Mr. Rivers did not figure on turn
ing over his money in six months or a
year. He foresaw that the location
and contour of this property. Just
within the Buckhead section, made it
a future high-class residence prop
erty of Atlanta. He and his asso
dates bought it, and instead of sim
ply cutting it up into lots and offer
ing it to the public for quick sale in
the rough state, he went to work and
spent money on it. The foremost
landscape artists and topographical
engineers of the United States were
employed to shape it up. Thousands
upon thousands of dollars were spent
In building roads, laying water mains
and sewers, in deforestation and other
Improvements to get it ready for the
building of homes; * and, although
much has been accomplished and the
beauty of the tract is apparent to the
visitor, there still remains much to
be done. Purchasers of lots there
can get a guarantee that everything
planned will be done,, or they can
“pour it back In the jug.”
This, in brief, is an example of
Mr. Rivers* development methods
He has done more than this. He
has spent several thousand dollars in
creating and beautifying an entrance
to this residence park the attractive
building on 1'euchtree Road known
as “The Lodge.”
First Impressions.
“It is my idea,” said Mr. Rivers,
“that when a man enters Peachtree
Heights Park at the Lodge, he shall
feel that he is upon his own ground,
although his home lot may be half
a mile distant somewhere within the
park. The impression is the same as
one gets on entering the SPrinceton
University campus through Blair
Arch.
“We have spared no pains or ex
pense on this tract and have de
veloped it with a view of providing
an attractive home site even for the
man who might desire to put as much
as $100,000 into a home. And yet,
for one-tenth of that sum a man
may provide himself with a delight
fill and attractive home in this sec
tion.”
Mr. Rivers’ idea in developing
Peachtree Heights Park grew out of
a similar development just on the
other side of Peachtree Road, known
as Peachtree Heights, which he took
up prior to the purchase of the Col
lier tract.
Many Homes Built.
Peachtree Heights is also a dis
tinctive part of the Buckhead sec
tion, where future residential Atlanta
is going. Thirty or forty handsome
homes W’ere built within this terri
tory in 1912. Twice as many more
will probably be erected in the next
12 months.
The entire territory through Buck
head and beyond is supplied with
city w'ater; while in these two par
ticular tracts developed by Mr. Riv
ers ample and complete systems of
sewerage have been laid down. Rapid
transit, 20 t»> 25 minutes to Atlanta,
electric lights, telephones and other
conveniences have brought these sec
tions very close .to town.
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