Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 73, no. 1886: May 7, 1904

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May 7, 1904. RECORD AND GUIDE 1041 ■ oy •" ESTABUSHED-^ March ziy DEVbltD P f^L ESTATt. BulLtJlffc ft;RafITECTURE .KoUSnlOlD DEOI^fTlDlJ, BUSIlfesSAJiDTHEMESOFCEtiER^l IfiTER^SI. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS Published eVery Satardap Communications should be addrossod to C. W. SWEET, 14.16 Vesey Street, New YorK 3. T. LINDSEY, Busineaa Manager Telephone. Cortlandt 3157 "Enterfd al the Past Off-ce at New York. N. Y.. as second-class mailer." "voiT LXXIII."" MAY 7, 1904. No. 188b attention to this prospect last week; and the news of the cur¬ rent week more than confirms our anticipations. The total num¬ ber of transactions reijorted in our "Gossip" columns amounts to less than 150, which is the smallest of auy week this Spring- even though it does show a 50 per cent, increase over the cor- resi>ouding week of 1903. The increase is still confined chiefly to tenements north of 59th street, but il is ioteresting to uote that the number of vacant lots sold is also largely in excess of those sold in 1903. No one need regret the waning of the abnormal speculation in tenement-houses, which will, we hope, be suc-^ ceeded by an increased interest in dweUings and in vacant prop¬ erty. It has been a curious incident in the history o? the Newi York real estate market, pointing to permanent changes in the chg,racter and ownership of tenement-house property, and fore¬ shadowing the increasing specialization in the management of this and other kinds of real property in Manhattan. ■T jr tALL street sometimes finds it difficult to explain the it it persistent weakness of the securities of the New York City Railway Co. considering that it is a seven per cent, guar¬ anteed stock selling on a 6'^ per cent, basis; but a sufficient ex¬ planation is afforded by the traffic returns of the company. During the year ending February 29th the business of the com¬ pany was practically at a standstill, while the elevated cars carried almost 40.000.000 more passengers than they did during the preceaing year. It is obvious, consequently, that the failure of the surface cars to carry more passengers was not due to the lack of opportunity, but to the fact that the transit system of the Metropolitan Company has just about reached its limit. It is in very much the same condition as the Manhattan Comi)any was in 1894 and after. It can do little or nothing to improve its service, while its partial competitors will be doing a great deal to improve their services. It is, of course, a reali¬ zation of this fact, which has induced the Metropolitan inter¬ est to enter a vigorous bid for the privilege of operating an underground system; but we doubt very much whether this ex¬ pedient will enable the traffic of the company to expand as fast as it should. It is true tbat the i)roposGd system has been cleverly contrived to accommodate the maximum of travelers in Manhattan: but it is also true ihat it will be largely new trafflc which will be developed by the proposed underground system. The longitudinal surface cars will be relieved to only a small extent; and the cross-town lines will become fearfully congested because of the privilege afforded their passengers of transferring to the tunnel. In sh'jrt. the Metropolitan system will be unable to obtain the normal increase of short-trip pas¬ sengers to which it is entitled by ihe growth of the city, and the loss to the company wdll imply large and constant incon¬ venience to the traveling public. The only way in which the situation can be remedied is as the Record and Guide has fre¬ quently pointed out, by the opening up of new streets; and the City Improvement Commission will do well 10 consider this as¬ pect of the business very carefully, when it comes to make its report. DURING the past week very many more deeds and mort¬ gages affecting the title to iiroperty in New York and Brooklyn have been recorded than during any previous year in the history of the city. The increase amounts to fully one-third, which is extraordinary considering that the corre¬ sponding week df 1903 also showed an increase over all previous weeks. On the flrst day of May over 450 papers affecting New York property were recorded, and 600 papers affecting Brooklyn property. Or. to put the matter in another way. the increase in the size of the Record and Guide affords a vivid and accurate indication of the activity of the veal estate market in its sev- .eral branches. Until 1903 and 1901, the issues of the Record and Guide during the active Spring months contained any¬ where from 52 to 64 pages. Last year the largest numbers con¬ tained seventy-two pages besides the cover, while during the Spring of the present year there Iiave been several numbers in which it took eighty-four pages of type to supply our sub¬ scribers with the matter to which ihey are entitled. The pres¬ ent number of the Record and Guide contains eighty-four pages. We may also remark parenthetically that our sub¬ scribers are buying this increased matter, which occupies so much more space than the corresponding matter did only a few years ago, at precisely the same price. This enormous amount of legally recorded matter has been caused partly by the tene¬ ment-house speculation in Manhattan and partly by the great activity jn small residential parcels in Brooklyn and the Bronx. This activity in the outlying boroughs is surely destined to in¬ crease rather than to decrease, but the tenement-house specu¬ lation gives manifest signs of being on the wane. We called The Prospect of Peace. THE first of May has eome and gone without the appearance of any trouble between the labor unions in ihe New York building trades and their employers. The causes of disagree¬ ment which were active during March and April have been re¬ moved; and there are no signs at present that any demands will be made on either side this Spring which will disturb the present concord. It looks, consequently, as if New York would enjoy a building season during which the construction of new buildings can proceed without any of those embarrassments and delays, which have done so much during the past few years to discourage building and to increase its cost. Contractors can go ahead and estimate on jobs without making as much allow¬ ance as formerly for expenses incidental to strikes; and specu¬ lative builders can undertake new operations with some assur¬ ance that their buildings will be completed on time. This is au enormous gain, and the demand for residential accommodation being as good as it is. will assuredly bave the result of bringing out mtii-h more than the usual amount of tenement and aiiart- ment house building. It is not to be expected under the circum¬ stances that the year 1904 will be in any w-;ay remarkable for the large amount of money invested in new construction, but it is probable that as much money will be called for by the plans flled at the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx offices as were called for by the plans filed in 1908. Consequently, what with the fair amount of new work started and with the considerable number of large buildings, which Irom one cause or another have been delayed in completion, and which are still to be fin¬ ished, there should be enough work under way to give the mechanics sufficient employment and their employers sufficient profit. Furthermore, if the present concord can be maintained throughout the year, and if confidence in the stability of build¬ ing operations is thereby restored, ihere is every prospect that the year 1905 will more than repair any deficiency of the pres¬ ent year. The house famine, which now exists, will not be re¬ moved by any amount of building which is likely to take place during the coming Summer, Builders and building material dealers can count with certainty upou the necessity of large constructional operations in the .Bronx and Brooklyn and on Washington Heights, Moreover, it may be confidently expected that there will be a large revival in the erection of large busi¬ ness buildings of one kind or another in Manhattan. These large business buildings are necessitated, not only by the normal growth of business, but also by the readjustments of business locations which are continually taking place. In spite of the vast changes of tbe iiast few years the necessity for such re¬ adjustment is as active as ever. Tbe process of improving the central area of Manhattan, and of making its architectural equip¬ ment thoroughly modern and efficient is only partly completed and will be resumed at the first favorable opportunity. The Record and Guide has frequently mentioned of late the large number of projects for new buildings, which are at present in the earlier stages of preparation. It has been an open question during the past few months whether many or few of these pro¬ jects would mature during 1904, The probability seems to be that not as many of them will mature as was expected; but in that case it will mean that they are merely postponed until 1905. By the Spriug of that year the people interested in these projects will be more likely to go ahead, because, in case the cost of construction has not been reduced by that time these people will understand that in waiting for such a reduction they are waiting in vain. This encouraging prospect depends, as we have said, upon the continuation of the existing peace in the building trades; and it would be absurd to claim that there is any guarantee of such a peace for the whole of the coming year. There is no