Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 88, no. 2278: November 11, 1911

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sANg VoLLXXXVIII NOVEMBER ii, igii No. 2278 A THOROUGHFARE WHICH HAS FOUND ITS LEVEL. The Character of Mth Street Pretty Definitely Established and Radical Changes Unlikely to Occur—Trade May Claim Van Beuren Mansion. The recent abandonment of the old Van Beuren mansion on 14th street as a place uf residence has again directed a certain amount of interest to that old time thoroughfare and has served lo re¬ call to 'the minds of old New Yorkers the extraordinary changes which have taken place In 14th street in the last half cen¬ tury. Its history has' heen the story of the city's wonderful growth; its changes have been similar to those on a dozen other streets, but in a way, 14th street furnishes a more typical example of the ultimate destiny of New York real es¬ tate than any other one of our uptown thoroughfares. Most of the midtown sec¬ tion is still in the making; the destiny of many of -the streets is difficult to de¬ termine and the character of their use¬ fulness is changing month by month. Not So with 14th street. Its radical changes have largely passed; its character is rather permanently flxed and the part it is to play for many years to come is fairly well established. It has reached its level. It may grow in value, it may have new huildings, but the chances of any more radical changes are few, and whatever growth may be experienced in the future is almost sure to be slow and steady. The speculator has had his day in 14th street and has left it for other fields; the investor is there to-day and is likely to stay for years to come. zone of high class business. In this re¬ spect 14th street is typical and probably furnishes a greater variety in the way of business and population than any other street in the city. Here one may flnd on tho various blocks good retail business, some fine old dwellings, a few good apart¬ ment houses, churches, theatres, whole¬ sale lofts, manufacturing plants, and typical old law tenements, while its near¬ ness to the great cosmopolitan life of the lower East Side has dveloped in certain hlocks a business and amusement center much like that existing on the lower Bowery a few years ago. The most valuable and important sec- lion of the street lies hetween Fourth and Sixth avenues, and the entire southerly side between these avnues is given over to retail shops and department stores. Fifty years ago, this district was the high-class shopping center of the city and many of our most prominent business houses were located on or near 14th street. Later on the uptown movement came, and Fifth avenue, 23d and 34th streets all took their toll from this street. For nearly forty years, Macy's depart¬ ment store was a 14th street institution, and in the days of its flrst success was undoubtedly the best known and most popular store of its kind in the city. In 1902 Macy's left its old home and. shortly afterwards, Tiffany's moved from Broad- of the high-class trade. The 14th street stores cater almost entirely to a cheap class of trade and appeal to the great mass of the city's population, and herein lies the greatest promise for tho future stability of the street. The net profits from retail business of the highest grade are greater than from a middle class trade, but it is a well known fact in this city that the higher class stores must, with few exceptions, follow the moves of their customers and of each other, while with proper transit facilities the cheaper trade will go where it must to purchase its goods. Stores of the class of Tiffany, Altman and McCreery must depend foz'. their business on the proximity to the great railroad terminals and their accessi¬ bility to carriage trade and a difference ill location of ten or twenty blocks is of supreme importance. No carriage trade exists on 14th street, but the section is liberally supplied with subway, elevated and street car lines, and these make it possible for buyers to reach the street from all parts of the city with little diffl- cully. The 14th street stores would do no more business on 2od or 34th streets than they do where they arc, and as then- rentals are cheaper than they would he further uptown, there seems to be no good reason for making a change for many years to come. A 25-foot store on the south side of the TYPICAL 14TH STREET DWELLING. OLD HOME OF THE METROPOLITAX MUSEUM OF ART. Fourteenth street is sometimes called the coming Grand street of the city, but while the likeness exists to a certain ex¬ tent, there is a point where the resem¬ blance ceases, and in the difference be¬ tween the two lies the future stability of 14th street. Both have had their ups and downs. The values of both have risen high, fallen low and risen again, and both are on a fairly flnn foundation to-day. But Grand street caters largely ■to a local business and the store rentals of to-day are based entirely on the buy¬ ing ability of the neighboring territory, while 14th street in its best part is well supplied with rapid transit and draws its 'business almost entirely from far re¬ moved sections of the city or from subur¬ ban territory. Then, too, the waterfront ends of 14th street offer much greater possibilities than do those of Grand street and are likely to' play an important part in 'the future value of the street. For these reasons 14th street is apparently much hetter off than Grand street and seems much more likely to either hold its own or Increase In value. Nearly all of New York's important crosstown thoroughfares have developed a decidely cosmopolitan character due to the long and narrow shape of the island, the Important waterways on either side and the rather sharply defined central way and 15th street to Fifth avenue. For a time property values suffered a de¬ cline and retail stores were not much in demand, while the general opinion pre¬ vailed that 14th street was no longer to be reckoned an important commercial thoroughfare and that it would lose en¬ tirely the retail character which had made it popular for so long. The Hearn store was of next importance to Macy's and it was rumored that it also would move uptown. When Hearn announced that 14th street suited him and he would remain there indefinitely a greater feel¬ ing of confidence was established, and be¬ fore long retail merchants from other sec¬ tions located on the street, and when a short time later Henry Siegel opened the 14th Street Store on the site of the old Macy huilding, the re-estahlishment of 14th street as a retail center was defl¬ nitely assured. Gradually the vacant stores were taken up and rentals and values worked hack to their former levels, nntil to-day there is not a vacant store on the south side of the street from Fourth to Sixth avenue, and rentals are as high, if not higher, than ever before. The character of the business has radic¬ ally changed, bot the volume haa in¬ creased and there are probably'moro peo¬ ple shopping to-day on these blocks than were ever before found there in the time block betweeri Piftli and Sixth avenues will rent for. about $12,000, and in the lilock immediately to the east for about JSIO.OOO. Between Broadway and Uni¬ versity place there are only a few stores and these are always in demand. A full size store would very likely rent there to-day for close to $15,000. There are very few transfers of ownership in these blocks and for this reason it is rather difficult to place an accurate value on the land. Within the year, the parcel No. 4G, 25x103. which is improved with a six-story loft building, sold for a little over ii!210,000. and a fair estimate of value of a vacant lot on the south of the same block would probably he about .fl75,000. The reason for so few sales lies in the fact that the greater part of the property is in the hands of estates which hold it only for investment; long tenn ground leases are made, hut the fee cannot be purchased. Almost all of the property on both sides of the street from Broadway to Sixlh avenue is owned by the Van Beuren family, which acquired it by inheritance from the Spinglers. In 17SS Henry Spingler purchased, for some¬ thing like $5,000. twenty-two acres of farm land, which besides the property above mentioned, included a greater part of what is now Union Square. Some of It was afterward sold off, but the remainder