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SEPTEMBER 7, 1912
A PROMISING AVENUE FOR FINE APARTMENTS
The Lenox and Carnegie Hill Districts of Madison Avenue Will Feel the
Benefit of New Subways—Stores for Local Trade Will Be a Feature.
IN a recent issue of the Record and
Guide a contrast was drawn between
the past and present characteristics of
Madison avenue south of 59th street. It
was pointed out that, whereas the avenue
from 23d to 59th street had originally
been occupied entirely by private dwell¬
ings, whose occupants were mostly of the
fashionable set, only a few blocks on
Murray Hill still remain undisturbed by
business. It was shown that below 34th
street the thoroughfare is strongly feel¬
ing the effect of the recent Fourth avenue
improvements and becoming a center for
wholesalers and high-class manufactur¬
ers, while between 41st and 59th streets
the Fifth avenue influence is more dis¬
tinctly felt, and the avenue is rapidly
being taken over by business houses
formerly located on the latter thorough¬
fare.
tent. The avenue was not looked upon
with the same degree of favor as the ad¬
joining avenues or the nearby side
streets, and this in spite of the fact that
the greater part of the social colony has
in the last decade been driven to locate
in the district bounded by 59th and 95th
streets, from Central Park to Lexington
avenue.
The surface cars on the avenue were
undoubtedly mainly responsible for this
fact, as the noise made by them was
object iorfable to the residents and the
tracks seriously interfered with carriage
travel. Property owners who had ac-
,quired holdings at high flgures were slow
to realize this change in feeling and com¬
plained bitterly of the prices offered when
they attempted to sell. Some builders
even, who had always been credited with
good judgment in their selection of sites
of Madison avenue will in the near future
experience a resumption of activity, and
that the prosperity which has struck the
avenue below 59th street will reach above
in the next few years.
The changes are not likely to be as
rapid nor are the prospects for great en¬
hancement in land values as promising as
in the zone immediately under the influ¬
ence of the Grand Central Station, but
a normal growth is now looked for and
speculative builders are beginning to in¬
terest themselves in good .sites for new
structures.
There are two principal factors at work
for the good of this district and their in¬
fluence is already being felt. The one is
the change in feeling of fashionable folk
as regards apartment living and the other
the construction of the Lexington avenue
subway.
MADISON AVENUE—NORTH OP 59TH STREET.
(Showing business section and traflic.)
M.ADISON AVENUE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM GTTH STREET,
rransitory conditions are apparent here. On the left Is the only store
within three blocks, and some modern apartments among old brown¬
stone dwellings.
The influence of the new Grand Central
depot and the subway was also dis¬
cussed.
That portion of Madison avenue lying
above 59th street, and as far north as
95th street, presents another problem
•with slightly different conditions. While
the entire district mentioned is similar
in character, it is divided into two por¬
tions known locally as Lenox Hill and
Carnegie Hill, Lenox Hill embraces the
territory around 72d street and is a part
of the old Robert Lenox holdings pur¬
chased about 1822. The entire block be¬
tween Madison and Fifth avenues, 70th
and 71st streets, was afterwards occupied
by the Lenox Library and became one of
the best-known blocks in the city. Car¬
negie Hill lies north of 72d street and
reaches to about 96th street.
Many years ago both of these districts
were pretty solidly built up with private
dwellings, and several on Madison ave¬
nue were among the most noted in the
entire city. Property values rose to a
high point and desirable sites were in
good demand. This condition, however,
did not persist to the same extent as it
did further down, and about ten years
ago the demand for Madison avenue
dwellings fell off to a considerable ex-
for improvement, also failed to see the
change and erected a number of modern
American basement residences, which
proved to be their undoing, as no market
was to be found.
Further south, when property became
undesirable for living purposes, business
was always ready to step in, but, with
few exceptions, shops were not in evi¬
dence above 59th street. Here and there
a few business places were opened, but
most of the inhabitants of the surround¬
ing territory preferred to do their buying
on Fifth avenue or in the larger markets
further downtown. One or two apart¬
ments and a few apartment hotels were
erected several years ago, but Madison
avenue did not appeal strongly to the
speculative builder and no extensive
building movement of this nature was
inaugurated. Prices remained stationary
or receded to a certain extent, and alto¬
gether the outlook was not a particularly
promising one. A number of restrictions
were also to be found in various places,
and these helped to hold back any pos¬
sible developments.
New York City property, however, if it
be at all advantageously located, seldom
marks time for very long, and present
indications are that the northern part
A few years ago apartments were rather
frowned upon by members of the social
colony, but of late there has been a
marked revulsion of feeling in this re¬
spect. Nearly all the wealthy Bast Side
residents own suburban homes, and the
tendency each year is for them to remain
longer away from the city. This makes
the maintenance of a town house an ex¬
pensive luxury, and as the modern apart¬
ment offers all the convenience of a pri¬
vate house, with much less labor and ex¬
pense, many of the most conservative
members of society are giving up their
city houses and spending the winter
in apartments or apartment hotels.
Park avenue has been given over large¬
ly to high-class apartment houses, and
these are nearly all well fliled with ten¬
ants of high social standing. Since Park
avenue has been so largely built up and
the demand for apartments continues, it
is reasonable to expect that Madison ave¬
nue will go the same way, and the Lex¬
ington avenue subway is sure to plav a
large part in bringing this about. 'The
existing subway was the immediate cause
of the building up of the West Side and
Washington Heights, but on the East
Side no additional lines of transit have
been installed in at least two decades.
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