In laying out the new suburban residential town of Westchester, 13 miles west of Chicago, there were no existing building uses to influence the preparation of the zoning ordinance, hence the plan could be made readily to segregate the zones for business establishments and apartment buildings. The total area embraced is 2,200 acres, and none of this was urban property two years ago. It is all in level country. This town, designed for a population of 98,000, has been planned, zoned and restricted to insure the growth of a high-grade suburban community, modeled after the English garden cities. No industrial property will be permitted. The amount of property zoned for business has been based on a frontage of a 6 in. per capita, which is the average of business frontage in the Chicago suburban area. Adequate provision was made for wide streets to care for through traffic on main highways, in conformity with the Chicago regional plan. These major streets are 100 and 108 feet wide. Residential streets are 66 feet wide. Ample space has been dedicated for parks, playgrounds and school sites, as well as a civic center, around which it is intended to erect all of the public and semi-public buildings needed as the community progresses. Several sites for churches have been purchased. The street layout was also planned to facilitate present and future elimination of grade crossings of the Chicago Rapid Transit lines through the town, without extensive track elevation or depression. With the increasing use of automobiles, it is felt that there will be no inconvenience to the public in limiting street crossings over the railroad, while the advantage of safe high-speed service on this line will more than compensate for whatever disadvantage there might be in not having the more frequent crossings. A contract has been awarded for grade separation where the electric line will cross Roosevelt road. Separation of grades between the electric line and the Illinois Central has already been effected. All public utilities are being planned and installed previous to paving operations. It was evident at the outset that a double system of sewers would have many advantages. Combined sewers would have been very shallow, unless expensive pumping stations were provided, while basement drainage would have been complicated. Deep sanitary sewers were easily possible, as an intercepting sewer of the Sanitary District of

Chicago was available as an outlet.   Storm  sewers could be built economically with numerous points of discharge into Addison Creek. With unfavorable soil conditions, the construction of a deep combined sewer system would have been much more costly than the construction of a double system. A 16 inch feeder main, 20,200 ft. long, of 16 inch centrifugal-cast iron pipe, connects the Chicago water system with the Westchester distribution system. The equipment includes a 500,000 gallon concrete storage reservoir, a booster pumping station, a 100,000 gallon steel elevated tank, and a distribution system of cast-iron pipe consisting of 10,875 feet of 12- inch; 26,935 feet of 8-inch and 73,162 feet of 6-inch mains, with necessary valves and hydrants. Underground work has been completed during the past 16 months, and paving and building operations are under way. Plans and specifications and supervi-sion of construction were in charge of Consoer, Older & Quinlan, consulting engineers, Chicago, with W. G. Mawhinney, Horace H. Smith, Alex McFadden and Aubrey Baber as resi-dent engineers. Up to October 1, 1928, $628,800 had been expended for water supply and $1,022,605 for storm sewers, sanitary sewers and dredging. Contracts have been let totaling $800,363 for concrete paving and $212,000 for street lighting. The total cost for water supply, sewers, paving and street lighting will be about $3,100,000 for the present improved area of 500 acres. The sewer and water systems were built by the L. E. Myers Company, Chicago. Paving was done by the Allied Contractors, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska; Stark-Schneider Company, Chicago, and the Pickus Engineering Company, Chicago. An interesting feature of this develop-ment is the fact that in less than two years the first 500 acres will have been transformed from virgin farm territory to a finished town with complete im-provements and more than 1000 homes will have been built and occupied.

From Page 15

The Bishop Lumber Company has been serving the requirements of the builders of Greater Chicago for nearly fifty years. Lumber has always been the most important single factor in the construction field and it still reigns as a real "king of commerce," a tremendous volume being needed to satisfy the demands of Chicago's building industry. The part taken by the Bishop Lumber Company in furnishing high-grade lumber for the new buildings of this city has been very significant in the past. It was never more so than at the present time when construction here is reaching a new peak.

This .notable lumber company has figured in the upbuilding of many large suburban communities around Chicago as well as in major building projects in the city proper. At present the concern is conspicuously identified with the tremendous building activity which has been taking place in Westchester, the West Side's wonderful new suburban development.

The construction work at Westchester runs into millions of dollars and the Bishop Lumber Company has supplied enormous quantities of fine grades of building lumber to the various contractors who are erecting structures on the property. In spite of the huge demand, the capacities of this veteran concern underwent no strain, because of the excellent organization which has. been effected in the course of the long history of the company.

It might well be said that the Bishop Lumber Company rose with Chicago into wide fame as this city really came into universal notice back in the eighties and nineties of the past century. This concern flourished right on through the successive decades of the last century, "growing up with the city" and at the time of the World's Fair in 1893 was firmly established as one of the leading lumber companies of the metropolis. Today, this veteran organization is as abreast of the times as ever, and is constantly expanding its program of service to include new fields.

Thoroughly up-to-date in every way, the lumber yards of the company are well stocked with all the varieties of material incident to the trade, fir, oak, yellow pine, etc. They also contain plentiful stocks of the new insulated building materials which have come into use in recent years.

The Bishop Lumber Company is well equipped to render the most approved modern service to its customers. Delivery is swift and certain by means of a fleet of high-powered motor trucks stationed at strategic points in Greater Chicago.

Some of the outstanding projects which have had Bishop service in connection with their building of late are, the Marshall Field Garden Apartment Homes, the Daily News Building, the Woolworth Building, the State and Lake Bank Building, the Drake Towers and the 1500 Lake Shore Drive Building.

A program absolutely unique in the real estate world of Chicago began this month when a group of salesmen of the Nixon Producers Club took off for Detroit on Wednesday the twelfth, on an air voyage of discovery. Never before in the history of Chicago has anything of this nature been undertaken before. Airplane trips to all the leading cities of the country are planned for the future, the purpose being to educate the Nixon selling force in the latest developments of other great metropolitan centers.

The men who made the initial trip to Detroit all earned the privilege by excelling as members of the noted Nixon Producers Club. George F. Nixon & Company believe in the policy of having their salesmen thoroughly trained in the science of real estate merchandising. In keeping with this policy the Nixon Producers Club was organized. A Nixon producer is a star salesman who makes a fixed quota of closed sales each month.

He is then awarded a solid gold Nixon producer's pin which bears three gold stars. When a producer qualifies for six months by making his quota a diamond is set in one of the gold stars. Thus eighteen months of making the quota will mean three diamonds in the pin.

Many original plans have been arranged for the members of this club. The program of education destined to acquaint them with all that is transpiring in the United States in the way of lively realty developments has as one of its salient features these unusual group journeys by airplane.

The public relations department of George F. Nixon & Company feels that putting on these trips will broaden the outlook of the salesmen, affording them much useful and necessary information at first hand of the great municipal growth now- taking place in this day of big cities and its relation to real estate merchandising.

Taking off from Chicago's Municipal Airport at 63^rd street and Cicero in one of the big comfortable Ford tri-motored planes of the Stout Airlines, the members of the Nixon party made the hop to Detroit in less than 2 1/2 hours. They flew over all the big real estate developments between here and the Michigan metropolis and viewed the latter city from all points before landing. The party was met at the Detroit airport by Mr. Louis G. Palmer of Palmer & Company, past president of the Detroit Real Estate Board. Followed a dinner for the travelers at the Book-Cadillac Hotel at which addresses by prominent civic leaders were made. A tour of the city by automobile included visits to the centers of greatest current real estate development. Leaving Chicago early in the morning the travelers were back in their homes late the same night.

Each month the Nixon Producers Club will visit a different large American city in the big passenger plane which the Stout Airlines of 105 W. Adams street are operating. Trips to New York, Cleveland and Milwaukee are scheduled for the near future, also one to the beautiful Chambers Island development near Green Bay, Wisconsin. The latter trip is possible largely because of the splendid airport location on the island which embraces 3,000 acres of summer resort estates.

A building program involving an investment of approximately $1,500,000 looms for Westchester -- one of the city's newest suburbs -- as the result of a purchase by a syndicate of 138 lots from George F. Nixon & Co. The syndicate bought the lots in various parts of the Nixon development in Westchester, paying a reported $300,755 of which a half was in cash.

It is stated that the syndicate will proceed at once with the construction of fifty-six three apartment buildings, twenty-five two flats, fifty bungalows, and seven commercial buildings.  In addition the syndicate is organizing the First State Bank of Westchester, which will occupy one of the commercial buildings.

William C. Nissen, who is associated with George F. Nixon & Co., is financially interested in the syndicate. With his exception, the names of none of the others in it have been disclosed.

It is reported that the Nixon company has closed sales in Westchester totaling nearly $500,000 during May. This firm is making arrangements for the opening of additional units in their development.

Other interests having building programs under way in Westchester are the Suburban Construction company, which is erecting ten two flat buildings; William G. Clarke of LaGrange, who is erecting five bungalows, and the Westchester Real Estate Improvement company, which is putting up eleven residences, one two apartment, and one three flat. The latter firm has just completed sixteen homes.

Building permits for the suburb for the year ending May 1 totaled $989,308. Considerable activity is also reported under way in connection with railway tack elevation work and the paving of streets and roads in the Westchester district.

Mr. Nissen and H. J. Lorber, vice-president of the Nixon company, negotiated the sale of the 138 lots to the syndicate.

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Last Modified:  10/04/2002