LAND AND BUILDINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14807, 10 October 1911, Page 9

LAND AND BUILDINGS.

AUCKLAND CITY.

-BEING: REVALUED THIS YEAR,

BIG INCREASE .EXPECTED.

The proposal of the Government Valuation Department to revalue Auckland city this year lias been sanctioned by the Minister, and is now being carried into effect. Mr. F. G. Ewington, the wellknown Auckland land agent, is associated with the . Government valuer ;in making the revision. -„

The valuation list for Auckland city, was last revised in 1907-1908, the gross capital value, comprising land and improvements, as assessed on March 31. 1908, being £10,000.176. This total included £5.650,662, representing the unimproved \ value of the land within the city boundaries. Since then the value of the new buildings erected during each year has been added to the gross capital value, and at March 31 last . the valuation was £10.674,545, an advance of £674,367 during the three years. No allowance having been made in the recent assessments for the marked advances which have taken place in the unimproved values of the city since March 31, 1908, it is expected that the assessment for 1911-1912 will show a remarkable increase. A competent authority, speaking to a Herald representative on the subject, estimated that an advance of between £4,000,000 and £5,000,000 would be shown. " You see." be said, " land in the business area, which was selling at £40 and £50 a foot in 1907, when the last valuation was made, is now selling at £120 and £150 a foot, while in Queen-street, during the 6ame period, the values have gone up from £400 to over £600 a foot." - The assessments for the city for 19111912 will also include the value of the„ new buildings erected during the 12 months. : " s . '

NEW BUILDINGS. WHAXGAREI TOWN HALL. Designs are being invited by the Whangarei Borough t Council for a town hall, library, : and municipal offices combined. The cost of the building is not to exceed £6000. - ; •„ Plans are being prepared by Mr. G. W. Allsop, architect, for; living quarters for the members of the Auckland Fire Brigade. The building, which will be erected' in Beresford-street, at the rear of the present brigade station in Pitt-street, will be a two-storey one, and will be built in brick. On the ground floor eight bed--rooms, for single men, will be -provided, and the top floor will be divided into quarters for the married, men. i vi . v ;- A terrace of' four two-storeyed ■. houses will be erected' in the- Mount Roskili district shortly, each house containing six rooms and conveniences. . Th© houses -will be erected in concrete. The plans have been . rjreparud •by Messrs. Wade and Wade," architects/ ; and tenders ' are 'now being invitedl. '■-;£): SURREY HILLS ESTATE.

. SECTIONS SELLING FREELY. ' Sect-ions on the Surrey Hills Estate, the -.- remaining portion of which "was * sold by the Bank of New Zealand to a syndicate for £32,000 a month, ago, are being freely disposed of. -V. Since the syndicate J took over tie land r 32 sections have ' been sold, v<- : . tile prices realised aggregating £4780. ' ; ; . --'• >l r number of country sections were sub- %< mitted for ; sale by? auction under the -».dilatingV >• by Richard Arthur and Co. ; at their auction rooms, yesterday. The % following sales resulted :—Lot c 5. section, ' j 13, of allotments 1 and" 2, section 9, parish - of Waitemata, £90; 15 sections, at Opaheke, £69 12s; allotments 37 and 38, Opa- ■:.-, heke, £20 i 12s 6d; allotment; 95, Kohu- ' maru, 49 acres, £36 15s; allotment 101, Kohumam, 40 acres; £18 allotment 119, Koliamaru; 40 acres, £20. , .

-,•:-' v: : TENDERS TSVITED. LAST WEEK'S LIST. .- Tenders for the erection,, of \ buildings hare been invited as follows daring * the past weak:— "" _ , , _ By the Public Works Department: For - additions to police station at Dargaville ; for station cottages at Maungaturoto, North .. Auckland railway. . J ■'"-■ Bv the Auckland Education Board (Mr. ' J. Farrell, architect) : For new school at "" Mapara, near Te Kuiti. •■ •■ . "" Bv Messrs. Ed. Mahoney and Son (architects): For removing the Ponsonbv Roman Catholic Orphanage buildings and re-erecting same - ? at Takapuna, and tor house at Parnell.r • • ~ By Messrs. Wade and Wade (architects) : For a terrace of four houses, ..in "brick or concrete/at Mount EoskiUj for a house near Morrinsville; for a house at Takapuna; and for house in brick in Symonds-streetu ,V : , ' L-/ ;^"',; r* 'By Mr A.B. Herrold (architect) : bat "cottage in wood or camerated concrete, at . -- J Milford Beach, Takapuna; and for resi- " deuce in wood, Sunny Bay Boad, Taka- " By Mr. B. C. > Chilwell (architect) : For ■ shop and stabling for. Messrs. R. and W. <- - flellaby, at Takapuna, •' Bv Mr. J. Boutly (architect) : For alterations and additions in wood to general ~.- store, at Waikumete; also for , brick : " fctabling. have also;been invilxaJ by the Tenders have also been invited by the • :: Remuera Road Board (Mr B. Munro W,l----y son) for the supply and delivery of stone- . ware sewer pipes, etc.; for drainage pur--poses, - and for supplies for the construction of the Mount Hpbsoa reservoir. By I ■ Mr. J. Dawson (engineer) : lor the for- ' " * mation of * road at Mount Eden. •v By -the Taumarunui Borough) Council (Mr L.. : G. P. Spencer, engineer) : For 8* miles of •''""- trenching for water mains, bridge work, and intake, etc. By Messrs. Foster^ and ' Muir -(surveyors) : For road construction fc at Remuera. 'By the Auckland City Coun- ' cil : For the supply of water pipes, etc - •By the Hillside Drainage Board ; *or ' widening and deepening two miles of dram, near Gordonton. By the Auckland ■; and ', Suburban.Drainage Board: For the con6tructk>n'of branch sewer from the New- : n-aSraUway yaros to the old Junction Hotel 'By the Mornnsville Town Board -- i (Mr S B. Sims, engineer) : For the sup- « ply'and laying of pipes for storm water : - ?lwe ?By the Papakura Town v ST? For formation work on Onslow -V. : 'and Ranfurly Roads. -

THE SKYSCRAPER.

ATS ORIGIN AND ; ITS : FUTURE.

An account of the beginning of *£ , scraper construction in *W fl^fe r £J ■ S appears in the Iron Age, shows how compSvely personal was the single mci- | " - dent that started the procession. _ . | ■ A man had purchased a double plot of , land m Broadway, with ■***»%»£* that lie would later be able to an adjoining plot to square hs o«i property. As his frontage was only ZLfcfl .wide, ; the necessity of adding the ao-jonung property, was sufficiently obvious-as was also .- ; his despair on > finding that he had purchased under a misapprehension, and that he must content himself with the narrow , frontage. Under the laws of the city the foundations of a building of the then con- " temporary type of architecture wouldhaye nearly covered , his Broadway • plot .with • masonry, ? leaving hardly more than a 10ft passage way. The man carried his perplexity to an architect, who put his mind ... to a study of the building regulations. He discovered that they, although specifying the thickness of wall ; required for the superstructure, did not name the exact

point * below or above ' the kerb at which it must begin. J; The idea occurred to him of " carrying up the foundation seven or eight storeys above the kerb, thus getting floor space where it was most valuable to tenants, or, even better, of carrying the foundations right up to the roof, and doing away with thick-walled superstructure altogether. , The entire weight of the floors and walls could -be carried and transmitted to the foundation by a framework of metallic posts and beams. The plan was so new that; although' it did not conflict with existing building laws, neither was there any law under which it could be immediately authorised. The plans had to be taken up by the examiners of the building department, who Anally approved them in April, 1888. The beginning of the work naturally aroused curiosity, comment, and direful prophecy, but excellent results were achieved, and since then many skyscrapers, towering very much higher have been erected in New York, as well as in other cities in America. - The advent of the skyscraper, however. besides bringing with it its fresh air and street-lichting problems, has brought with it the still greater task of dealing with the extra traffic occasioned. It -is estimated that the combined elevators of the Gotham buildings do a daily business that is more than* double the number of passengers carried by the elevated, subway, .and surface cars. But the skyscraper itself unfortunately creates yet another aspect of the municipal problem of population versus area. The height of a building, while it adds in proportion to the number of people likely to use the sidewalks, does not increase their area, which means that if the skyscraper is to be the building of the future the proportion of city dwellers to-the acre "will be greatly increased. RESERVOIR ON MOUNT HOBSON. REMUERA WATER SUPPLY.

L"'A new reservoir is to be constructed on Mount Hobson, and a start has been made with the excavation work. The estimated cost of • the work is £3000, and the undertaking wilMje carried out by the Remuera Road Board by day labour. At last night's meeting of the Board tenders were received for the different materials required for the work, and they were referred to the Works Committee. The reservoir, which will be constructed of reinforced concrete, and covered on the top by a sward of grass, will have a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons. The dimensions are :— Width, 70ft,- length, 135 ft; depth, 22ft. It is expected- that the work will be finished in five or six months. In addition to the Remuera reservoir similar works are now in progress at Mount Eden, Mount Albert, and Otahuhu.