Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 97, no. 2517: Articles]: June 10, 1916

Text version:

REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, JUNE 10, 1916 CAUSE AND EFFECT IN APARTMENT HOUSE CONSTRUCTION IN NEW YORK CITY By REGINALD PELHAM BOLTON Author of "Building for Profit"—"Power for Profit'' PART IV. A T the beginning of the current year ■** there were still in existence 77,960 tenement buildings of the old law type, constructed prior to 1902, forming the iiabitation of a majority of the popula¬ tion of the metropolis. Most of these liuildings are in fairly good physical condition, by no means at the end of their existence, but the)' represent a form of construction which is no longer permitted, and in many respects a char¬ acter of accommodation which is no longei; to be desired. The investment which lias heen made in their construction runs into enormous figures, and a natural inquiry arises as to what is to be done with this vast extent of investment, in order to main¬ tain it upon a sound basis. The number of family spaces or apart¬ ments in these old buildings is very large. In Manhattan the old type of buildings is 87 per cent, of the whole. In these structures there are 392.48S apartment spaces, accommodating fully one million people, and constituting 73 per cent, of all the apartment accommo¬ dation in the borough. In Brooklyn the old buildings are 74.7 per cent, of the whole number, and the number of apartments therein consti¬ tutes 62 per cent, of the whole. In the Bronx the situation is fortu¬ nately reversed, on account of the com¬ paratively recent building up of that sec¬ tion. There the old apartments are but 26 per cent, of the whole number; and in Queens they constitute but 30 per cent, of the total. Increasing Population. It must be conceded that the construc¬ tion of these old buildings was a long step in the problem of housing the enor¬ mously increasing population of the city, and that they served a useful purpose in this regard, whatever have been and still are their deficiencies. From the point of view of Manhattan only, it would appear that it would have been impos¬ sible to house more than one-third of the population the borough now sup¬ ports, without the tenement. .\ large question therefore arises as to what may be and should be done with the old class of buildings—whether the process should be one of radical altera¬ tion to meet inodern conditions, or of complete removal and reconstruction. So far as the removal of old buildings is concerned, the process is noticeably slow, and it is interesting to observe that the replacement of buildings of this character by other buildings of improved type is only a minor part of the total process of replacement, as shown in the following table: OLD TENEMENTS REPLACED "13 «y nj bo L gS SS § 5 _: iSg ,5-5 |g . 3 3 > ra -w 01 ° 3 Ji >• t^ m^nnra a j 1910..: 337 65 176 28 21 22 25 1911... 321 63 171 11 21 19 36 1912... 300 72 118 27 9 28 46 1913... 217 32 70 35 17 16 47 1914... 321 37 as 89 'H 19 63 REGINALD PELHAM BOLTON. The replacement of au apartment building by another is not so attractive a proposition to the builder or specu¬ lator as the construction of a new struc¬ ture on vacant property; and so long as the latter is available in desirable posi¬ tions there will be little attempt to de¬ velop the replacement of old buildings by new. There are still, for instance, in Manhattan some two thousand vacant lots awaiting utilization, and very many old and small stores and dwellings which could be more profitably removed to make way for modern apartments than would be the case with old five-story tenements. Rate of Removal. The rate of removal of old apartments is barely one-half of one per cent, of the total per annum, and it would seem that this rate must be speeded up as the buildings become older. The situation is probalily due to the fact that the age of the majority of these buildings is not great enough to have affected their physical conditions. It becomes, there¬ fore, of much interest to inquire whether this large nunilier of existing buildings could by any means be profitably altered so as to meet modernized requirements. Some such process is constantly pro¬ ceeding, but tlie alterations which are recorded by the Tenement House De¬ partment are largely minor modifica¬ tions, necessary to comply with health and fire regulations. Alterations, to be wholly effective, must be more thor¬ ough and must deal with the large defi¬ ciencies of these older types of build¬ ings from several standpoints. The defects of the old buildings are largelv the shortage of light, ventilation and air supply. This point is illustrated by the fact that no less than 248,625 rooms have required the provision of windows or the enlargement of exist¬ ing windows during the past twelve years, an average of twenty thousand a year, of which number upwards of 62 per cent, were in the Borough of Man¬ hattan. The outlook of apartments into yards and courts is a deplorable, if necessary, feature of apartment house construction. To a considerable extent, it is a feature of even the most advanced form of con¬ struction. In 1915 only 48 per cent, of all the new apartments constructed in Manhattan had an outlook on the street, and all tlie rest faced into courts and yards. The proportions were the same in the Borough of the Bronx, and in the Bor¬ ough of Brooklyn were but little better, being SO per cent. In the Borough of Queens the conditions are much better, because the prevailing type is the "through" apartment, having street out¬ look at one end and a yard outlook at the other, and thus only 23 per cent, of the apartments in that borough have no outlook on the street. OUTLOOK OF APARTMEXTS I.X TENEMENTS ERECTED DURING 1915 Manhattan Bronx .Apartments with % % outlook to street.. 2.607 .54.6 3,.5.31 48 6 outlook to yard ... 1,576 32.9 2,679 36.8 outlook to court . . 434 9.1 587 8.1 Through apartments. 166 3.4 474 6.5 Total apartments. 4.783 7,271 Brooklyn Queens Apartments with % % outlook to street.. 3,9.37 41.8 406 18.9 outlook to yard . .. 3,819 40.6 386 18.1 outlook to court... 830 8.8 106 4.9 Through apartments. 830 8.8 1,249 58.1 Total apartments.. 9.416 2,147 Richmond New York City Apartments with % % outlook to street.......... 10,481 44.4 outlook to yard........... 8,460 35.8 outlook to court.......... 1,957 8.3 Through apartments. 2,719 11.5 23,617 Total apartments....... Of all the forms of deficiency the most deplorable is the lack of interior conveniences, a condition which has been considerably rectified by the action of the Health and Tenement House Depart¬ ments: yet it is strange to read that there were still being constructed so late as last year apartments having no liaths as part of their equipment, al¬ though, fortunately, the rate of such deficiencies is on a decreasing scale. NEW LAW TENEMENT BUILDINGS, 1912-1915. .Ipartments wth no baths 1912 1,156 1913 731 1914 200 1915 198 Apartments with piiblic baths only 1012 129 1913 None 1914 None 1915 62 It seems evident that unless steps are taken to improve and rectify these con¬ ditions the increasing intelligence of the great body of tenants will lead to the comparative desertion of the older type of building, in favor of newer forms; and, inasmuch as the demolition and changes of e.xisting buildings are largely in the older settled parts of the city, while the majority of the new construc¬ tion is in the outlying regions, this pro¬ cess if not advanced by some more rapid method of improvement in the old build¬ ings will lead to a gradual desertion of the older districts in favor of the out-