ONE YEAR'S PROGRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13728, 20 April 1908, Page 6

ONE YEAR'S PROGRESS.

BUILDING OPERATIONS IN AUCKLAND. HOW THE CITY IS GROWING. SOME REMARKABLE FIGURES. AN EXPENDITURE OF £750,000 The casual observer cannot but be impressed with the great building activity going on in Auckland at the present time. No matter where he turns he must meet with evidence!; of this material sign of progress, for buildings, both large and small, are going up in all directions. He may think that this: is but temporary expansion, hut it is not so; ii, is only what has been going on in Auckland for years past, and what seems destined to continue for many years more, perhaps, to an even greater extent. With a vjew to obtaining some information as to the buildings erected in the city and suburbs during the financial year ended March 31, 1908. a Hkrald representative made a round of the various municipal offices, and was supplied with figures which demonstrate, as nothing else can the headway that is being made. These show that during the 12 months in question buildings to the -value of fully three-quarters of a million sterling were put in band. Of this enormous total an expenditure of £152,325 was involved in the erection of public buildings, while with regard to th»> balance, this has been mainly absorbed in the erection of dwellings and business premises. With regard to the Litter figures, it may be mentioned that they are under-estimat-ed, if anything. In the' majority of cases, the officials of the various boroughs quoted' 'from the estimates given at the time the building permits were issued. That these estimates were not excessive may be taken I for granted, for property-owners, when giving these returns, are naturally inclined, in view of the approaching visits of, the Government valuer, to minimise rather than magnify values. Then, again, no allowance is made for extras, which very often :mn into 10 and 15 per cent., and | even more. .'ln other districts, where no building permits are issued, the number of new buildings erected, and in course of erection, could only be estimated on the number of applications to be connected with the water supply, and the different I clerks, in quoting the average cost per building, preferred to be on the safe side.

The following is a list of the public buildings which have been put under construction since April 1, 1907:—Grafton Bridge, £35,000; Railway Wharf sheds, £25,430; Hospital buildings, £20,000; extension of Customs buildings, £16,954; Girls' High -School, £13,930; Jubilee Institution for the Blind, £13,735; Training College, £(1000; Working Men's Club, £4000; chapel for Little Sisters of the Poor, Tweed-street, £2800; temporary building .School of Mines, £1376; Mount Eden Baptist Church, £1200; alterations and additions to Auckland police station, £2000; Newmarket police station, £2000; Devon port post office, £2500; two lodges and one Sunday-school building, £2000—a total of £152.325. Big as this total is, it will be easily eclipsed by the public buildings which are to be put in hand this year. Altogether these will run into over £250,000, made up as follows: — new Post Office, £85,000; Town Hail, £80,000; Secklon Memorial Technical College, £30,000; Harbour Board offices £25,000; Y.M.C.A. building, .£17,000; EdendaSe school, £2300; "Grey Lynn school, £1800; school at Stanley Bay, ! £1300; the new Magistrate's Court, and! new post offices at Newmarket and Bit- i kenhcad. i

The approximate cost of the new warehouses and offices commenced during the period in question is £96,535. Many of these premises have been completed, while the others are still under construction. The most notable of those erected are the handsome premises for Messrs. Ross and Glendining, in Elliott-street, the ferroconcrete buildings for Messrs. Lichtensiein, Arnoidson and Co., in Quay-street, and for Mr. J. J. ■ Macky, in Swanson-street, and ■ the fine row of buildings at the corner of Custom and Ifobson Street*, for the Auckland Electric Tramways Company, Langguth and Co., and Mr. Jagusch. Of the buildings at present in course of construe- j tion, there are three which involve an ex- j penditure of over. £7600 each, these being for Collins 8r05.,, at- the corner of Wyndham and Federal Streets, Mi". Daldy, in Queen-street, and in connection with the Corcoran estate at the corner of Queen and 'Durham Streets. All three are particularly fine buildings, and should prove adornments to the city. That for Collins Bros, is to cost £13,000. It is to be built in brick, and will be eight storeys high— the highest in Auckland City. Other warehouses and office premises which have gone up during the year, or are in course of construction, are the following:—Prom £5000 to £6000: S. H. Abbott and Co., additions to warehouse in Elliott-street; Dr. Raynor, offices, Wellesley-street. . From £3000 to £4500: Robertson Bros., store, Quay-street; R. Malcolm, Limited, offices, comer of Wellesley and Albert Streets; H. E. Partridge and Co., brick premises, Queen-street. From £1050 to £2600: Hill and Plummet-, wareliouse, Hob-son-street; Lamb and Smith, warehouse, North-street; Hare and Co., warehouse, Wakefield-street; Briscoe and Co., additions to store, Beach Road. With the adVent of the ham-street " skyscraper," if the term may be so used, it is interesting to note that two more buildings, eight storeys high, will be commenced this year, one being for Mr. J. C. Speddiug and the other for Messrs. L. D. Nathan and Co. Both will be erected in Custom-street. A contract was let for Mr. Spedding's building some weeks ago, at a price of £22,200, but a -hitch has occurred, with the result that operations have been hung up for the present.

Not a less satisfactory state of affairs has been maintained in regard to shops. During the 12 months in question no fewer than 109, valued at £81,175, have been put under construction in the city and suburbs. Of these ,the city claims 59, ten of which, costing over £10,000, have been erected in connection with the Probert trust, at the corner of Newton and Great North Road, four in Pitt-street, six in Hobson-street, four at the Symond3street end of Khyber Pass, three in Karangahape Road, Jour in Symonds-street, and five more in the city portion of Ponsonby Road. Three shops have also been erected for Messrs. Kneebone and Jones, at the corner of Grafton Road and Khyber Pass, while five more are in course of erection for the same owners on the adjoining hind. A block of six shops, running into £8800, is also being erected for the Baptist Tabernacle trustees, at the corner of Queen-street and Karanganape Road. Another block of lour out of 10 shops is also going up on the old Prince Albert College, playground, in Queen-street, while immediately below, two more shops, on behalf of Mi". Jarrett, are approaching completion. Tins same activity which

prevails in the city in regard to the erection of shops ? extends to the suburbsGrey Lynn, for instance, has nine extra, at an approximate' cost of £6300; Mount Eden, 12, >at £5000; Onehunga, four, at £1800; Remuera, three, at £800; and Parnell, two, -it £600. Eight ."hops have also been erected in Eden Terrace, at a cost of £2800, nod four more are novv under construction at a price of £3200. In Newmarket five wooden shops were built in Manukau Road early in the financial year, and now seven more, all in brick, are making their appearance, five being at the lower end of Khyber Pass, and two in Manukau Road.

The most remarkable feature, however, ' of the building activity of the past finan- ' cial year has been the astonishing rate at 1 which dwelling houses have been going up. i When the figures supplied by the various - local authorities come to be added up it - is found the total number of residences put ' in hand in the city and suburbs during ' that period was 885, valued at £376,126. ' This is exclusive of the figures for Mt. < Roskill. which could not be ascertained, and which would in all probability have i brought the total up to over 900 dwellings, valued at about £400,000. Mt, Albert leads the way with 142 extra houses, the city being next with 115, Mt. Eden next with 107, Grey Lynn close up fourth, Devonport fifth, and Remuera sixth, with Parnell, Takapuna and Archhiil last. In - the city the erection of dwellings lias been principally .confined to the Ponsonby district, and in Mt. Eden to the outlying : portions of the borough, where several 1 large estates have recently been opened up. In the other districts the operations have Ven more general. With the inauguration of the electric trams in the Mt. Eden and Takapuna districts, it is expected that buildings in these localities will go up very rapidly. The same remark applies to Grey Lynn, when the Surrey Hills Estate, the. nearest available land to the city, is cut up. Generally speaking the style of houses put up in the city and suburbs during the past year has been of a satisfactory class. The great majority, in the matter of cost, range from £350 to £450, but there are others again which run into as much as £1000 and £1500, and in s one case of j £3000, which brings up the average considerably. It is an interesting fact that in connection with the less pretentious style of house erected, the owners in many instances have sought the assistance of the Government, in getting money advanced under the Advances to Workers Act. On inquiring at the local office of the Department our representative was informed that since the Act came into operation in January, 1907, 240 applications had been made in Auckland for assistance, which was granted to the extent of £60,000. The workers under this Act are allowed to borrow front the Government to the extent of £350, for which they have to pay si,- per cent, interest, including 1 per cent, sinking fund, which extinguishes the debt in about 37 years. The following table gives the number of dwellings put in hand in the city and j suburbs during the twelve months ended March 31, 1908, the approximate average value of each, and the grand totals for each borough : — Average Boroagh. No. of Value. Total. Dwellings. Per House. City 115 . £$8 £46,413 j Newmarket ... 17 100 8.500 Epsom 48 500 24.000 | One-tree Hill ... 46 500 23,000 i Bemuera. ... 80 550 44,000 Parnell 13 646 8.4C0 Mount Kiien ... 10 7 ' 400 42,800 Mount Albeit ... 142 336 47.737 Eden Terrace ... 19 300 5,700 Grey Lynn ... 89 425 37,825 Archhiil ... 10 • 264 2,640 Devonport ... 85 450 250 Northcoto ... 25 500 12.500 Takapuna ... 12 625 7,500 Birkenhead ... 27 282 7,601 OnebunsH . ... 50 383 19,260 885 £423 £376.126 j With one exception, the average values j given above are the quotations of the i clerks of the various districts. The exception is in the case of the city, for which the average was obtained by calculation from the City Council's permit book. In addition to the above quite a number of factories, stables, etc., have been erected, at a total cost of £16,805. Most ! of these, which range from £100 to £3000, are in the city. Of the most prominent i may be mentioned the addition to Harvey j and Son's factory in Albert-street, at a ! cost of about £2000, and a factory for ! Mennie, Ltd., in Mills' Lane, at a cost of about £2500. In Eden Terrace a factory j has been built for Macky, Logan, and Co., j at an approximate cost of £1000, while a I bakehouse, to cost about £3000, is also go- j ing up for Mr. Walter Buchanan in the j same district. For general repairs and additions to business premises and dwellings in the city and suburbs, it is estimated that a sum of from £20,000 to £30,000 must at least have been spent during the , year, if not more.