CITY EXPANSION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 42, 13 November 1917, Page 7

CITY EXPANSION

HOW WELLINGTON IS GHOWINfi

THE SPREAD OF THE SUBUKIIS

Notwithstanding the extraoriluinHly high prices ruling for building of nil kinds, tho year now dnun l« » close has been quite a, rniuarkabl o o for residential gwvlh in certain ban localities. This is almost li 1 • in other pnrU of tho Dominion 111 ing trade hnft been far from "T in many places eomp cloy at • hl " ' etill. In Iho eoso ol conditions aro. different, it has l« ho ad milted, aud without the aid of , : ditions, onusod by thij, uwibiulN , for house-room, tlio buil'lmg iin.' A ticeable in some localities could lot h«vo tnken place. As the result > j n made among land and hnufit n " j tho cily, « Dominion rrnorlfr « formed that the district } ■ shown tlio liveliest grow h n tho J two years is Lyall Day that » ;,[• tho district bojuided by ±ho " Evans Bay to tho north find Co«K m to the south, wliero land parts is now bringing .£lO ai I < per foot. Soroo 10 years y All. bum land-after whom SuthciTai 1 J q named—drovo a stnko into tho mark tho high-water cheaply acquired pioporty . em side of L.wili Bay. A* llid J™ rolled on ho di ß pos«d °f a RrtJ oi his property (o ' , 0 wn3 others, but somo six monil» dgono anxious to 6couro » t ( | jjeen tho 1 mllntv JelaS that Vl aWt R 25 ngc, a IV littlo over twelve months ,ig f subdivided into seven sections, (of oaoh), nnd realised 1740. P ■{ t twelve years ago wW for £ » " Tin'RuaStrft "anft.lho Qu«n's land facing tho Queens Dn • f as *Cl 2iv foot wns rccontlj t iiii w beach section ncx tho hoi wl « baths, with a maximum depth ol bblt.. but the offer was refused, _■ ... Ono land agent .admitted hnv sow 85 sections and 100 sections with hous in the district during tho pMfc <- * months -tho terms invariably being cash above morfeMa. Ont)i® 6 ' of tho bay, towards the Miramar boun darv, ono speculative builder erected eomo 90 houses—neatly designed and scrviccablo places-«nd out of that nnin r J? only somo'half-dozen have tenants. J. no rest have cither paid for their places or are doing so. Tho Kilbiriue hstato has also beon largely built upon during tno year, and what four years ago were pi es of wind-blown sand are view-finding elevations crowned with picturcsquc villas, surrounded with tho promise of smiling gardens.. , But Lyall Bay has not been tho only suburb that has displayed signs of activo growth during tho past two years, ine increase in the numbers of a very acsuable class of residence at Hataitai lias been steady throughout tho war period, and anyone who has not walked from tho tram-stop at Hataitai to Roseneatn for a couple of years would be amazed ' to see how tho hills an(< dales of this picturesque suburb have becomo clothed with villas, nil bearing the stamp ot modernity. Tho cutting-up of the Highland Park Estato has turned the attention of many to Wadestown, but the greater part of the work has been confined to the city side of the range, where n very fashionable suburb of delightful residences has taken shape during the past eighteen months or so. Kelburn is always popular. Tho trouble thero is that there-is no more room to bti.ild without destroying- the picturesquenesa of this quaintly arranged suburb. At Brooklyn a much better class of houso is being built than formerly, and as tho result of that trend Brooklyn as a place of residence is growing in favour. Thero has been a fair amount of buildins in that locality during thr tear. Fnrther on towards Vop-eltown and Mornington there has beon little growth. These suburbs will ro ahead as soon as they are served by the electric cars. At Island Bay tho improvement had been slower than at other places ,oiu- reporter was informed, owing to the inflation in prices that took place before tho lust boom burst, when land was being sold at jEB to £10 a foot. Land that was being sold' for £7 or a foot m 1909 was now procurable at M, and was good buying at that. Property m was distinctly firm. Thanks to the Lyall Bav cars having been diverted to Constable Street, the service was a splendid one, and as that part of the city now had its own picture theatres nnd a snlendid array of all kinds of shops, Newtown neople w-ore iuelined to hang to their properties, and that firmed prices. Without doubt the three years of war have maant three years of healthy growth in Wellington, for though there has been a good deal of business done in the buying and sellinß of properties, it l as been a class of business contingent on actual settlement—the demand for, houses —.and has not been built up m anj purely speculative land trafficking, theifect of which often rtards a colonial city for years.