Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, November 26, 1916, Page 43

Big Problems Involved How Efficiency Is Achieved Citles, like everything mortal, pase |just what your building will cost whea through set stages of development. |it is finished. Time was when Marx Twain very| High pressure information will be truthfully called the national capital | forthcoming if you are serious in your & “city of magnificent distances.” Who Inquiries. Construction engineers, ar- wouldn't if the city of Washington had | chitects, purchasing agents and every fashed across his mental vision some [ buman factor in the business of big forty years ago, when cattle usurped butlding will be at your service. Of THE OMAH A_SUNDAY BEE: NOVEMBER 26, Building Omaha’s Sky Line the muddy streets and hovel sat at the richt hand of palatial residence. New York once was limited to & half mile of lowly bufldings below City Hall nark, and youths and maidens strolled picturesque Maiden Lane within a stone’s throw of predatory Wail street of today. Omaha 1s “beating the time" of older sisters among the important cities of the United States. She is acquiring a sky line, a ruggedly outlined galaxy of many storied structures which, dotted here and there, are a challenge to supercilious visitors from the “offote east” and & matter of pride to the local booster. To the stranger who comes to Dmaha nowadays, to the Omaha which 1s the buckle of the corn belt and a progressive of progressivism, it may well be that the thought lhl.ll come, “If this be Omaha, who be L T'imes change, stranger, and things go on apace. Swift ‘elevators and not phanks mare are incident to daily life this year of 1916. You are as likely to find the lawyer, the business man, g ! 2k you have & o one does you the honor to encounter why be agreeable? From & course you can't to have all your Questions answi off hand; for intri- cate caloulation, painstaking Investi- gation of your personal problem, study of the future and what it means to your project, how to create a build- ing which will provide a revenue ade- quate to the investment—all these questions must be considered. But definite, trustworthy information will forthcoming. Few people, perhaps, realise the huge responsidbility incident to the building of a city’s sky line. Whoever undertakes the work must be compe- tent even beyond the well developed modern idea of what oompetence means. - Assuming that a bullding might be erected which would possess the necessary strength and serve its purposse, there s a hundred fold more than this demanded. When the engineers and architects and oonstruction experts figure on a modern bullding they do so with the idea in mind that it shall be just right, asocurately balanced as to strength of girder and floor. They would have done less than their duty to make it too strong, for instance, sinoe that would mean an unneces- sary expenditure for materials. They would have been derelict if not conver- % gant with the very latest improye- ments in materials and equipment. The Bankers Realty Investment Company in handling the problems of big bulldings employs the services of men who are experienced and expert in all necessary fields and branches of the building business. The pros- pective building owner may feel as- mired that upon the turning over to him of his completed structure it will be a modern of the moderns. More- over he may rest assured that it will be so planned that it will be as much in style years hence as the day upon which it was completed. This feature of permanence is one that is given serious consideration by the big construction companies of to- day. The architecture carries dut this idea by embodying:proven styles only. Away with the freak, is the note of oantion. There are, says the architect, many enduring styles of architecture ~The Tools of Big Building=- Huge derricks, powerful hoists, clamorous concrete mixers, the ubiquitous wheelbarrow—all these are the tools of big building. But they are relatively unimportant. Busy hordes of workmen, delving deep into the earth for foundations, or clinging dizzily .aloft in the fabrication of a giant steel skeleton—they are tools of big building. But still we have not ' reached the heart of the matter. It is “ORGANIZATION,” spelled with a big “0,” and given resound- ing emphasis, which most nearly expresses the idea of modern building. Not one profession, but ten; not one trade, but 46, have part in the com- pleted whole of a big building. Not one, but hundreds of materials and ap- pliances entered into the finished structure. Not one, but a thousand problems arise to vex the dreators of that twentieth century monster dub- bed the skyscraper. 1, eroenary viewpoint it would be good [to selsot from and beauty of a per 5mn“:z. to say nothing of prover |manent character is best obtained by blal kindness of heart sticking close to the formal. And In this latest addition to| Then another thing which the con- Omaha’s sky line one may, find sur |struction company sees to is that the oease from most of the ills and trials |interior, and not the exterior of the of modern life. Bervants cease to proposed building, governs its evolu- trouble and oookery to vex. Nowhere |tion. That is to say, the interfor ar Enter Organization worthy of the name; enter the genius and energy to gather into a single unit the elements of a great organization which surely and certainly fashions to a given end the steel sinews of a big building, and to these sinews fits a gloss of adamant concrete, scintillant glass, deco- rative plaster, speeding elevators, glowing lights, facade, pilaster, carven In the whole United States is life more pleasant. Stephen Phillips wrote of the River Lethe, where to drink of charmed waters was to forget all earthly troubles. Well, at the Black- stone one may forget all the troubles that are not worth while. And there 1s a distinction and a difference. The Bankers Realty Investment Company sent the Blackstoné Family Hotel skyward and in the finished pile {a epitomized what the ‘modern builder of a city’s sky line can do. 7 Blackstone boasts every eomfort an convenience known to -modern build- Ing science. It 1is physically m|: psychologically without & lnp-rlarn e B hi o At ouce the ge white Plasa s:)‘;eifu mecca and mentor of the family hotels of the country, and situated on Centrel Park, New York, has nothing more to offer in actual comfort f.h:‘n the Blackstone. True, it is & little taller, a little more expensive and has the fame of maturity and brasen l;l:: conceft, but its silken draped u\dm jeweled habitues know no more - rangements are carefully planned to meet the needs of the prospective ten- ants, or the owner, if the owner is to be the occupant of the building. If it is intended that the building shall attract a general class of office rent- ers, then the appointments are con- sidered from a wide point of view. It is the policy in this case to suit the many. Of ocourse, if a bank, or a building for stock brokers, or lawyers, etc., is contemplated, there will be TR | special needs that must be considered. Most important of all the character- istic efficiencies which make the oom- plete bullding organization a blessing to building owners is the centralisa- tion of responsibility and the guaran- tee which such an organisation gives of the ultimate cost of the building. Onoe a capitalist has a building erect- od he is, under old time conditions, prone to encounter a sad experience. In other’ words, what might be oalled the old method involves an estimate from the architeot of the cost of the bullding. But the architect merely es- timates. He does not guarantes. And having to set his figure without the ury or comfort. the per |essential collaboration with the con- But more important than tect facilities the Blackstone affords struction engineer, the purchasing xury-loving Omaha, more significant :;:,‘z‘;"mt gervants answer beck and call, more to tles of & won agent, eto,, it transpires, in the great majority of cases, that he places this be destred than the beau- | figure too low by a third. derful ballroom and s But the complete building organiza deloctable cuisine, is the fact that|tlon, one which, llke the Bankers , in Omaha, is the organisation :eg"ech can and will put up the dty’s coming “Woolworths,” “Singers” and “Metropolitans.” No need to go abroad for the colossal sky line which Omaha is creating by leaps and bmmm the mafls to Chicago and New York carried requests for figures on stoel and stress, on foundations and adequate planning, on engineering problems and furnishings. Now, in- ptead, such problems can be an- swered in Omaha. The bufldings which mvolve such inquiry can be erected by local enterprise. The material to be used, most of it, can be had in Omaha. And ss the city fuifills its promise it will be more and more a loeal busi- entirety, when the new sky Do, B e birih tn the Gate Oity. Realty Investment Company, operates under the “single contract” plan, de- parts entirely from the idea of “esti- mating” and ventures into the realm of fixed guarantee. It can do this be- cause it has at its finger tips all the data and information necessary to forecast the exact cost of the work. Then it merely adds its legitimate |profit and advises the building owner that his building will cost him such and such a figure. Of course In the case of the big construction company such an agree- ment s never violated. In the first place it 1s financially able to back up its statement in regard to cost and in the second place it has a reputation to sustain for service and eapability. No deal with the modern building or group of artisans and laborers marble, decorative brass and all the hundred and one appurtenances which burgeon forth in the multi-storied Titan of modern need. East, west, south and north, the country has its big construction com- panies, exponents of efficiency, doers of stupendous tasks. Dominant in the Central Western States is the Bankers Realty Investment Company, forging steadily to the forefront in its chosen field. Time WAS when the West went East for big building service. Time IS when the West can confidently call upon its own. This is not a boast, but a condition. ‘ A few years ago the Bankers Realty Investment Com- pany entered the field of building construction from the angle of creating an organization competent to undertake any building, from a modest home to the most elaborate business structure. Today its ideals are realized. A staff of architects has been recruited from the best men of the pro- fession, construction engineers, éstimating experts, the most competent purchasing agents, highly efficient building superintendents, a permanent these and many other factors, human, me- chanical and executive, have been welded into one strong, competent con- struction engine which guarantees to clients the very best building that ingenuity can evolve for a stipulated sum. / Financially we are able to guarantee any contract into which we enter, legally we subscribe to the terms of an agreement in the ‘simplest, most understandable language; as a business proposition we bend every effort to giving satisfaction. As an evidence of the faith we keep, there is the almost unprecedented extension of business which is enabling us to extend operations not only throughout the State of Nebraska, but into many of the adjoining states. Finally we feel that we may truthfully assert that it will pay prospect- fve building clients to get in touch with our organization before contract- ing for any work of whatever character, for we are prepared not only to xE 2 scraper And tter a large terri-|ganisation is regarded as complete tory hm;l«md on Omaha | which does not result in the entire sat- for its big bufldings, Missouri, Tows, { isfaction of the building client. Kansas and outlying Nebraska are in| An interesting prediction is made by render building service of the highest character, but we are also equipped to render financial assistance in the shape of a first mortgage loan to such of our clients as desire it. o. Kansas City, be it noted, comes anOmnht for a new building to cost a million dollars, and many other cities look to the same source for other structures of varylng Im- portance. ‘When Horace Greeley sald, “Go west, young man, go west,” he fore those familiar with the conditions in Omaha, 1. e, that it will be a city of wonderful sky line. That prediction is bared upon the fact that the busi- ness district {8 confined, and must be confined, in a comparatively small area. And when such ‘conditions ob- tain, a city grows vertically and not \ w a virlle country where selfsuf- terally, tall bulldings :1.clant men might find reward for ef- :nud of low nmblln(ml:.ctnmr:: tort. In a famous buflding at Twenty-| Lp 0" over o great deal of space. sccond and Broadway, New York,| "o, ne Bankers Realty Investment there 18 a big bullding company which | o0 seems to have been wise in bpa fathered many n skyseraper. In| g “ouobiighment of its business | ihiladelphta, Pittsburg, San "“’“""!o::m- It seems to have been 'll: sn and other cities the thew and sinew because Omaha is going to have great truct: are con- ’,'””:,:; n;‘,:g":;:fl::,:, se:::lud and | demand for its services, for one thing, ected which makes them actuall-|and because Omaha, being a central Hos point for a vast territory unequipped But not for Omaha, not for the Gate in modern building fecilities, will un- Tity of the future. Now, and for the |doubtedly be the point of call for a ning years she, or her citizens for |widespread clientele of buflding has created bnilding facilities [owners. second to none. In the Bee building| Perhaps Mark Twain would say thare exists the counterpart of the big [that Omaha was still a city of mag- sonstruction compenies which have [nificent distances. But that would given older cities their sky lines. only be because of and In case of his Visit there some day, especially if |avoldance of Farnam street. The you have in mind some.big building. |great suthor, or anyone with an eye Ask questions, be inquisitive. Suppose |open to the progress of oities, as oities you want to know just how much fron- |go, must concede that Omaha is ad- work there will ba required if you are |yancing with the best of them. Not ‘o erect a twenty-story buflding. Sup-|New York, not Chicago, not boastful pose you want to know just what sort | Atlanta, not Kansas City, nor any of »f materials for a hundred and one|the fmportant centers of population in purposes will be necessary to secure (the United States is forging to the the best possible bullding for your|forefront of big bufldings and sky lina money. Suppose you want to know |faster than old Omaha—Advt e Bankers Realty [nvestment Com pahy (Assets Over $1,500,000) Architects Building Contractors e L, Rioor Lies BML Co/a WONEIH