1953–54 Volume 78 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Will Caruth—Planner and Builder
By CHARLES WEBB, Texas Delta
APhi alumnus of whom Texas Delta
chapter at Southern Methodist University
is justly proud and an individual
whom any Phi should be pleased to call
brother is William Walter Caruth, Jr.,
S.M.U. '33, of Dallas, Texas.
A nationally known suburban planner.
Brother Caruth developed and is the owner
of Caruth Building Service. Although the
Caruth name has been for more than a
century connected with acres of cotton land
north and east of the city of Dallas, Will
founded his business only fifteen years ago
after receiving his degrees from S.M.U. and
Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
His first venture in real estate development
was four duplex apartments. From
that modest beginning, in a remarkably
short time, his planned developents attracted
such favorable criticism from all
over the nation that he is now regarded as
a leading authority on such activities.
His development known to Dallasites as
Inwood Village is regarded as a typical
model for good shopping centers, and his
more recent Park Cities Village won the
National Association of Home Builders
award. He now has in the planning stage
a mammoth project to surpass any of his
others and there is in the discussion state
a "super" shopping area with which we
have nothing to make comparison.
A consistent champion of free enterprise.
Brother Caruth was chosen to conduct a
personal investigation of European housing
conditions and to frame the report for the
National Association of Home Builders.
This report has been quoted across the
country with much favorable comment.
Although his planned developments have
brought him outstanding attention, Caruth
gives much attention to the Caruth Building
Service, importers and dealers in building
materials, reinforcing steel, and lumber.
This has grown from a small business which
began with $400 capital to an industry of
Reporter
WILL W. CARUTH, JR., SM.U, '33
He believes in passing economies
along to the consumer.
huge proportions because of its policy
which states that a consumer must not be
penalized by possible conventional trade
mark-ups.
Caruth believes that if a merchant can
undersell a competitor in fair competition,
purely by more efficient control of costs and
operating expenses, he is justified in passing
this economy along to his customer in lower
prices and enjoying an increase in profit
from the resulting increase in volume. He
is a champion of proper zoning, but formulated
his theories on planned development
arid zoning only after exhaustive
studies and applications.
Mr. Caruth's attitude toward other builders
is that of co-operation. He does not insist
on exclusive rights to operate within his
own residential subdivisions, and in his
land developing projects he is glad to help
other developers.
As Caruth's developments grow so do his
philanthropies to various institutions and
(Continued on page 303)
[286]