Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-27 | Page 18 | Apartments Needed for Salt lake City

APARTMENTS NEEDED FOR SILT LAKE CITY Demand for High-grade Houses Declared to Be Unusual. The progress which Salt Lake has made during the past few years along rnetro-politan rnetro-politan lines has brought about a condition condi-tion which demands the building and operation of apartment houses of the higher class and the lack of houses of this character is being felt more and mor$ every day, according to a number of the prominent members of the Salt Lake real estate board, who claim to be in touch with the situation. There is a demand for apartments commanding com-manding a rental of from $150 to $200 a month, which cannot be met at the present pres-ent time, according to George J. Martin,- Sanager of the rental department of Ed . Smith & Sons, who declares that no other city of the size, prominence and wealth of Salt Lake, in the United States which is so woefully lacking of apartments apart-ments of the highest class, such as house so large a portion of the population of New York, Chicago, Boston and other of the larger cities of the east. "With almost a complete lack of apartments apart-ments de luxe, the loading hotels are today to-day entertaining many families who would prefer to live in apartments in keeping with their financial "and social standing, says Mr. Martin, if sucli accommodations were available for lease for from one to five years. Salt Lake has grown to a position, says Mr. Martin, where several of the best class of apartmenl houses, affording af-fording all of the luxuries of the best hotels, ho-tels, and at the same time the freedom of a home, would prove to be profitable investments. in-vestments. Outside capital will come along some day, he says, take over the most available sites and build apartment houses which will provide all of the luxuries lux-uries and environment which persons of Wealth consider essential to their existence and reap the benefit which properly belongs be-longs to resident property owners and Salt Lake capital. Reflecting the fact that Idle money Is seeking substantial investment is evidenced evi-denced by the increasing demand for mortgages and to a considerable extent the purchase of mortgages, generally con-si con-si de.red by the real estate operators as conservative Investment. In this direction, direc-tion, as expressed by D. Carlos Kimball, president of the Kimball & Richards company, com-pany, the west is now feeling the pulse of the eastern markets, due, probably, to the extremely optimistic feeling that the war will soon come to an end. Money, which formerly was invested, in less stable investments, in-vestments, is now finding Its way into real estate and mortgages. That wage earners arc more thrifty today to-day than ever before, says Mr. Kimball, Is emphasized by the fact that fewer mortgages are being executed than formerly for-merly and releases Are steadily increasing. increas-ing. The records of the county clerk and recorder show, for instance, that on October Oc-tober 23 only four mortgages, aggregating aggregat-ing $5-100, were recorded in Salt Lake county, while sixteen releases, amounting to a total of $19,663, were recorded. Practically Prac-tically all of tho releases were on small homes, reflecting the fact that more money Is being saved than formerly by wage earners. Real estate men agree In the statement that a remarkable increase in land values will come with the close of the war, and that within one year after peace is declared de-clared tho increase will begin to be felt. In the last five years, it is said, there has been practically no increase in land values.