Sawdust Memories
SAHBA Celebrates its 50 Year Anniversary
By Roger Yohem, Communications Director
Yale Epstein, 83, recalls the day in 1952 when he heard about a special meeting.
“In the years after World War II, Tucson was becoming known as a great place to live. Charlie Wilson called me for a meeting. He wanted to charter an HBA. We needed 15 builders to get started, and that didn't take long at all.”
Wilson, who owned Wilson Contracting & Engineering Company, had a vision to establish the Tucson Home Builders Association. He had the OK from National, so he set up an organizational meeting at the old El Conquistador Hotel on Broadway.
“One reason to form was a deal being done by an outsider on the south side. We were worried about the type of construction: frame houses! Nobody built frame in those days, everything was masonry and plaster. We felt it was a slipshod product,” laughed Wilson , 82. “We also worried it was taking away business from locals.”
Another issue was labor. Some workers were union, some non-union. There was much debate over who could and should work a project. Both builders and union leaders often watched union men clock out, then walk across the street to work a non-union subdivision.
Since time has clouded all memories, there's no certainty as to who was actually in the room that day in 1952. Clague van Slyke, Sr., of Snell & Wilmer, was with a small law firm at the time and drew up the original Articles of Incorporation.
“The primary players were Charlie, Yale, Marvin Volk, Bob Lusk, and Gordon Fremming. I went to those early meetings, working with National to do those bylaws. Forming an HBA was something whose time had come. The group felt they weren't being represented at the city, county or state level. They wanted a voice,” said Clague, 78.
Wilson added another name to the founder's list: Irv Buchman. He did custom homes and commercial projects. Red Hirsch was the HBA's first Executive Director, responsible for admin, bookkeeping, and paying the dinner and bar tabs. In 1953, Lusk was the first President, with Wilson as VP. Wilson never served as president.
“I guess you could say that Lusk, Buchman and myself were founders. We had been talking about it for a while. We knew we had to reach out to other builders, original members like Lusk and Epstein to form the Tucson HBA,” said Wilson .
The Charter was granted with 15 builder members.
The Early Years: Dinners & Politics
The HBA's first office was in Wilson 's office on the 900 block of South Sydney . Member meetings continued at the El Con Hotel. Dinners were at the old Redwood Lounge on Speedway, and Board and Committee meetings were held in Wilson's, Volk's and Lusk's offices.
That's where Life Director David Garber, 73, first got involved. He was with Newell & Robbs Mortgage, an Associate Charter member.
“All the big builders were there, the HBA was just getting going,” said Garber, who later served as Secretary/Treasurer. Events later moved to the Pioneer Hotel downtown, where the Government Liaison Breakfast started.
In 1961, the Tucson HBA became the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. That was about the time that Garber and Van Slyke teamed up as the group's first lobbyists.
“For years, SAHBA was a very major player in State politics. We didn't produce 100-page bills, but we were able to get things passed a little at a time,” said Van Slyke. “In those days, there were no county building codes. Finally, the legislature passed laws to allow counties to set their own codes. A lot of people didn't like it. That was struggle for many years.”
Garber said he lobbied against the codes because, like today, local officials were “too excessive. There were standards already in place, we all built to FHA and VA specs. Even 40 years ago, regulation was part of the affordability dispute.”
For some 25 years, SAHBA had very strong ties with the Central Arizona HBA under Dick Mettler. They fought statewide and regulatory issues together, like rate hearings before the Arizona Corporation Commission, as advocates for the industry and home buyers.
Home Builders Became Road Builders
In the early 1960s, The Lusk Company and P.A.T. Homes were the area's top two builders. P.A.T., where Garber was Executive VP, earned Builder of the Year honors for completing 700 homes in one year, sixth-most in the nation.
“When the political climate was right, builders were able to do some incredible things. There was a spirit of cooperation with the County because they appreciated our efforts and wanted the revenue. They encouraged development,” said Garber, who came to Tucson in 1939.
Major infrastructure projects were easy. By working closely with the County Manager , new subdivisions were built as needed to meet demand. Builders even paid to pave 22 nd Street and Golf Links, east from Wilmot.
“It was called the $1,000-a-Mile Deal,” said Garber. “Builders on each side of the road paid their half. We collected the money and County crews would come in and chip-seal the dirt roads.”
“The builders deserve credit for building many major roads like that,” he said.
For new subdivisions, the County put in pumping stations with twice-a-week service. As homes sold, the builders got money to extend the sewer lines to the new neighborhoods. Along the way, the County would pick up an infill piece or two.
Hard Times, New HQ
During the turbulent mid-1960s, the Vietnam War, inflation and copper mine layoffs choked the Tucson economy. Hard times hit and SAHBA struggled.
Van Slyke recalled that meetings were down to 10 people. Epstein left town for Toltec. P.A.T. went to California to buy land. Lusk moved to Connecticut and became one of that state's largest builders.
But when the economy recovered, the builders returned.
By 1971, Executive Director Bob Webb was running SAHBA from rented space at 630 N. Craycroft. The Board, led by President Dale Chastain, decided it was for a permanent home. He tapped John Wesley Miller to build new headquarters on Country Club Road , our current location.
“Dale and I worked together, reviewing bids and contributions. I was the contractor, and together we coordinated a lot of in-kind gifts of money, labor, materials and services,” said Miller. “Dale watched over me to make sure I didn't do anything wrong.”
“Construction was done in 1972, the same year I won Builder of the Year. Now there's a surprise!” mused Miller, the 1985 President. His father, Wes, held the gavel in 1962, making them the only father-son presidents in SAHBA history.
As Time Goes By
Van Slyke believes that cooperation from politicians was better in the early days “because there were a lot more Democrats in the business. George Miller was the biggest paint contractor in town and he became Mayor. The industry fared well because he and others did work for lots of builders.”
As business owners like Miller left the industry, they lost touch with the economic value of construction. “Some forgot their past, although they had ridden the backs of the builders to their own wealth. That's when we started seeing more anti-business attitudes in government,” added Garber.
As time went by, progress created other dramatic changes in the industry, especially in subdivision planning and home designs. Wilson still ponders the shift from masonry to stick-built homes and wondered if he would make it in today's world.
“Our plans were so straightforward, a house was either a box or a rectangle. Today, houses have protrusions, intrusions and fancy designs all over. And inside, the materials as so advanced,” he said. “And of course, I don't have to tell you about prices.”
The decline of local owners and investors is also significant. Many “originals” have retired or been bought out by regional or national companies.
“The business was owned by people who lived here. That is not the case anymore,” said Van Slyke.
On Nov. 12, SAHBA will hold a 50 th Year Anniversary party. The “El Con originals” were happy to hear about the reunion. Epstein, who thought that Wilson had died, was elated to hear that Charlie was still around.
“Yeah! Charlie was a great guy, even better when he's alive.”
At the celebration, Wilson has lots of memories to share. “And if I forget, I can ask Yale if he remembers,” he said. “The most important story that needs to be told, is that SAHBA built this town.”
Sidebar
Wilson Brought FHA to Tucson
Soon after Charlie Wilson hit Tucson in 1946, he built the town's first tract of homes under the Federal government's FHA Program. “Mortgage loaning” was a new idea but he used it successfully to sell houses in Tucson Blvd. and 22 nd Street neighborhoods.
“These were called GI homes, sold for $6,500 with a $350 down payment and an FHA mortgage,” said Wilson . Th e subdivisions were plain, 3 lots per acre, with streets and houses right next to each. The tiny block homes had gas wall heaters and evap cooling. “They were solid, we didn't have sheet rock. They're still standing.”
Wilson, a Michigan native, was a WWII Navy Seabee.
When a new copper mine north of Tucson was being planned in the 1950s, Magma Copper and FHA let bids. Wilson, Lusk, Volk and a few other builders formed a group to make a proposal.
We submitted a book to build the town of San Manuel . It was done on copper sheets and had all our house plans,” he said. “We didn't get the job, but some of our plans were used. We learned a big lesson about business from that