1674-1 August Geiger/e) -'L• 14..Q4cC- / c i PI.A2 z --
SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 1950
> 1-lf
TEL. 5-4641
k. Beach
e Their
Towns
ENN
Itor
any transfers in February this
n the situation: Inquiries for
ary and February, 235 against
ary against 35 last February.
r last Febru•
ry, and 45 in
1 estate mar-
re. But the
(ower. Hotel
$104,053,912
0 hotels had
try, this year,
1 would have
Portraits And Projects Of Architects
rket what do W. M. GLENN
racial conditions elsewhere are
nd guage Beach conditions by
is in their own home towns and
ith the exception of an active
just as good as it has been in
te. But the local market suffers
;overnment running Five BIL -
r don't like H-bomb talks; they
either nation wants; they ...
Ing the freight for foul condi-
his: Don't sell anything around
a figure based on bankrupt con -
tries, complete unemployment,
inonia weather, ad infinitum,
•sties in so many parts of our
.: own here; hold out and
L .oc ot:pankgg..jou can get
'd`take from someone who
Lown.
Royal Flagg Jonas, Fred's
n, is handing out. Mother, the
rmer Barbara Gordon, and new
in, Alfred Gordon Jonas, are do -
.g just right. Happy father is an
.torney, 420 Lincoln road. Alfred
as named after his two grand -
is, Fred Jonas, real estate
•oker, and Harry Gordon, attor-
w, but he is going to be called
reddie, so Dad says.
Read this:
"Is this the time to sell? For
he nation as a whole, say realty
analysts, yes. But certain Im-
>ortant factors change the an-
swer: desirable property always
>rings good income; don't sell if
n a growing community; and
•ealty profits are subject to the
:apital gains tax."
•
Now we read it again ... and
rain. This line: "desirable prop-
.ty always brings good income;
>n't sell if in a Growing Cotnmu-
ity ... "applies directly to Miami
each. Gro wing Community,
tat's us. The lines were written
Lou Schneider, a financial
ialyst of New York, and we sel•
)m miss his expression.
Then he asks: "How low Will
al estate prices. go." "The Na•
anal Association of Assessing
ficers says all chances of a re
rn to prewar prices are gone
rever except in the event of ai.
onomic collapse."
So BUY NOW, if you can get
i at you want, especially that
sirable property which always
Ings good income. Buying now
Miami Beach is no gamble.
ere is no risk involved. Real
tate here is safer than any other
mmodity we know.
* * *
Don't forget the Associates'
undup Monday — a swell
eaker, "Dynamo" Roberts of
e FP & L Co.—Chester Krone
(Please turn to page 20) '
(Note: This is another installment 0/ a series dealing wstb Miami Beach and Dade county architects who
daily design and build their own "monuments." Today: August Geiger. Next week: Norman M. Giiter.
—R. E. Editor.)
August Geiger was here before there was anything except a few scattered dwell-
ings, mangrove swamps, sand -fleas and dreams. He helped make a city arise here
by the sea, embellished and adorned it with varied gems from drawing board and
fertile brain. His works will endure as all Dade county expands.
"Gus" as he is generally known O
made his advent here long before Loan Association building, Miami
Carl Fisher came to town. He Beach; residences for the late j.
was one of the originals and rates
with such pioneers as John Col-
lins, Thomas J. Pancoast and J.
N. Lummus.
He was born -171'a. smart town—
New Haven, Conn., Sept. 2, 1887,
site of Yale university. He took
the entrance exams at Yale but
he didn't want to be an architect
as his parents suggested, so he
skipped off to New York and at
18 got his first job in an archi-
tect's office there.
Since 1900 Gus' parents had
been wintering in Miami, owned
a fruit grove at LeJeune rd. and
Flagler st., and in 1905 Gus came
here to live. He started the prac-
tice of architecture and became
the 10th (No. 10) registered archi-
tect in the state of Florida, his
certificate being dated Nov. 2,
1915.
"I had a selling job—I had to
sell prospective builders the idea
they needed an architect," Gus
relates.
Soon after Carl Fisher arrived
to dig up Miami Beach from the
Biscayne Bay bottom land, the
"Fabulous Hoosier" employed
Geiger, who built Fisher's home,
some stores, offices and the Lin-
coln hotel on Lincoln Road. Gei-
ger, who could write a 1,000 -page
book on Miami Beach's, Miami's
and Coral Gable's early days had
the second office on Lincoln
Road, next to Carl's, at the corner
of Lincoln Road and Washington
avenue.
Gus recalled yesterday that
he bought 16 lots on Washing-
ton ave. for $42S each and a lot
on Ocean dr. and 12th st. for
$2,300.
Architect Geiger who resides
with Mrs. Geiger, the former Mi-
ami born Ruth Hinson, at 2804
Prairie ave. has played a part in
nearly every worth while activity
here and still does, since the turn
of the century. He maintains a
swank new studio -office for Gei-
ger Properties, inc., in the equally
swank new Chase Federal Savings
and Loan Association building at
the corner of Lincoln Road and
Lenox ave., which he designed,
and an architectural studio -office
at 730 Lincoln Road.
Some of his projects include:
First Church of Christ Scientist,
Miami; Chase Federal Savings &
B. Ford, Miami Beach, and Grosse (A. A. O. N: M. S.)! life member of
Point, Mich.; Carl Fisher, George
A. Steiner, and Marr C. Honey- Beach of the Elks; membe m e 1. ..:. -oca
we11..Miamt. Beach; La Gorce-Golf 4." -Chamber "of —Commerce
club, Miami Beach; Board of Governors and past pres-
Schools—Dade county, f r o m
1935 to 1950: Miami Beach Senior
High, South Beach Elementary,
North Beach Elementary, Bis-
cayne Elementary (new wing ad-
dition) Horace Mann Elementary,
Melrose Elementary, West Little
River Elementary, Shenandoah
Junior High, Lindsey Hopkins
•(Tech High)—converting unfin-
ished Roosevelt hotel into Voca-
tional High school, including Ho-
tel Training Project recently com-
pleted; Miami Jackson High, new
Physical Education and Home
Economics buildings.
Numerous large residences,
churches, hospitals, commercial
buildings and apartments and ho-
tels, and designed the three-story
wing addition to Jackson Memo-
rial hospital and the two-story
addition to the Nurses dormitory.
Geiger is a member of the Com-
mittee of 100; Rod and Reel club;
Lincoln Road Association, board
of directors and past president;
Fairchild Tropical Gardens; Ocean
Bay Lodge and Mahi Shrine
ident; Miami Beach Rotary club,
founder and past president; La
Gorce club, Bal Harbour club,
Surf club, and Opera Guild.
His professional societies in-
clude: American Institute of Ar-
chitects; South Florida Chapter
A. I. A., past president; Metnber
of Florida Association of Archi-
tects; corresponding member of
the National College of Architects
of Cuba; member Miami Beach
Zoning board; member personnel
Board Civil Service, Miami Beach;
member of board of directors of
Chase Federal Savings & Loan
Association, Miami Bridge co. and
of Crime Commission of Greater
Miami; member National Affairs
Committee, Florida State Cham-
ber of Commerce; director, Flor-
ida State Chamber of Commerce.
"For over 300 years Americans
have sought for added comfort in
their homes, not merely physical
(Please Turn To Page 19)
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