Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 100, no. 2580: Articles]: August 25, 1917

Text version:

REAL ESTATE AND (Copyright, 1917, by The Record and Oulde Co.) NEW YORK, AUGUST 25, 1917 CESSATION IN BUILDING ACTIVITY CAUSES SHORTAGE OF RENTABLE SPACE Situation Next Year Promises to be More Acute THAT a shortage of rentable space in apartment houses in every section of the city exists has been known for some time, but few realize the serious¬ ness of the situation. The condition is due to the present buildin.a: inactivity, and there is every prospect that the situ¬ ation will become more acute in 1918. While owners are receiving, in many instances, larger gross returns on their investments, still they have extraor¬ dinary expenses to meet, which serve to reduce the net income to a figure even lower than last year. Coal is an important factor in the managernent of an apartment house, and there is little likelihood that the new price concessions will materially effect the owner. In order to ascertain the condition in that section of the city east and sovith of Central Park, where many of the finest structures have been erected, a canvass was made and table printed which show the condition in houses typi¬ cal of the section. When it is considered that more than a month must elapse be¬ fore the renting season is over, it cai' be readily seen that the available space on October 1 will be practically nil. Moore & Wyckoff's Houses. Walter C. Wyckoff, of Moore & Wyck¬ off, reported the renting conditions bet¬ ter than for many years past. "There is a shortage of high class suites." said Mr. Wyckoff this week, "and there Hoes not seem to be any likelihood that the situation will improve in the immediait future. The conditions are so well un¬ derstood that the tenants realize that the owner cannot do a great deal. "While it is true that in some in stances rents have been raised, still this increase in revenue to the owner is .""ot sufficient to reimburse him for the extr'i outlay which he must make. The price of coal is high, and though there i- "price regulation" in the air, still the conditions in the local market are un changed. There is a possibility that the price of coal will be reduced to the ulci mate consumer, and if this happens, *h. tension will be relieved somewhat. "But coal is not the only item of addi¬ tional expense to the landlord. The mat¬ ter of elevator boys is a serious on •. During the past year two separate raises in salaries have been granted, and still there is a serious shortage of boys who are able to handle an elevator prop¬ erly. Decorations have increased in cost out of all proportion, and fixtures are al¬ most prohibitive in prices. 1 do not think that there wil! be much speculative building during the coming year, and I look for a still greater scarcity in de¬ sirable suites next year. "So far as the apartment houses un¬ der our management are concerned, we are practically one hundred per cent rented, and before October 1, I antici¬ pate that all the space will be occupied. The buying market has not shown signs of reviving, but so soon as investors realize present-day conditions I look for an active selling market. There is much cheap property, and many bargains can be picked up. Owners will realize this condition, and then the brying demand will be stimulated." The following table Indicates the num¬ ber of vacancies in some of the apart¬ ment houses under the management of Moore & Wyckoff: No. Rent- No. Height. Apts. ed Vacant Location. Park Av..... Park Av..... Park Av..... 24th St. E.,. nSd St. E.... 5.Sd St. E.... 40th St. W... Madison Av. , 405 410 105S 118 115 123 4 .691-695 12 13 G 9 9 9 6 24 23 24 18 19 36 12 18 20 15 15 15 6 15 34 24 23 24 18 19 36 12 18 20 15 12 15 6 15 34 OOth St. E.....128-130 5 173d St. W..... 526 5 173d St. W..... 565 5 Gramercy Pk. . 20 5 sr.th St. W..... 41 5 160th St. W___ 556 5 T2A St. E-...... 150 12 34 34 0 Pease & Elliman*s Houses. W. E. Barton, of Pease & Ellimaii, stated this week that the renting condi¬ tion in the section to the east and south of Central Park has been splendid during the past few months, though just at the moment there seems to be some hesi¬ tancy on the part of tenants to sign leases. Still, there is only a smalj per¬ centage of vacancies, and there is but little doubt that when the renting sea¬ son is over that apartments will be at a premium. The comparatively small number of new structures erected dur¬ ing the current year is bound to be felt, and the present rentals should be main¬ tained. Mr. Barton said, in part: "We have found our tenants most reasonable in thc requests, in fact, more so than during any year in my experience. Our office has not raised rents, except in the case of a few houses, and no concessions of any kind have been made. The cost of decorations has advanced to such a price that we could not afford to be as generous as in past year, and this posi¬ tion has beeti appreciated by the ten¬ ants. Following is a table which shows the status of several of the buildings under the management of the firm: Location No. Gramorry Pk . . . . 13 llth St. W...... 56 17th St. E...... 112 35th St. E...... 145 3fith St. B...... 138 40th St. E...... 144 4nth St. B...... 146 r>6th St. E...... 144 57th St. W...... 49 .n8th St. W......56-62 No. Height Apts. .5nth St. W___ .59th St. E___ 63d St. E..... 64th St. E___ 6«th St. E___ 70th St. E___ 75th St. E___ S'_>d St. E..... 82d St. E..... 8:^d St. E..... Lexington Av.. Park Av...... Park Av..... Park Av..... Park Av..... Park Av...... Park Av..... Madison Av.,, Mndison Av.. Madison Av.....1190 Mad'son Av..... 1215 Madison Av..... 1219 Fifth Av. 68th St. W. 24 116 116 32 11 178 103 21 43 40 287 .510 5.35 .563 565 829 911 601 667 45 65 72d St. W....... 165 72d St. W....... 167 SOth St. W...... 150 Slst St. W...... 202 S"fh St. W...... 213 S8th St. W___10.3-109 9'>d St. W. 90th St. W. .. 102'1 St. W. .. Ilnth St. W. . 153rt St. W. . . Riverside Dr. Riverside Dr. 214 309 309 315 550 67 127 6 9 6 8 9 6 9 6 7 7 6 9 9 10 12 9 9 10 11 11 5 8 15 12 12 12 7 5 10 7 6 6 3 5 5 7 0 10 6 6 9 8 36 12 23 61 12 36 18 14 28 31 18 37 20 33 17 28 31 o2 33 10 11 29 14 27 48 28 11 27 12 16 6 9 33 10 5 20 43 32 37 48 19 27 7 Rent¬ ed Vacant 7 26 11 21 61 11 27 15 13 24 19 12 35 33 14 27 25 16 32 7 7 29 13 26 40 21 10 18 *>2 'o 10 6 7 5 4 31 7 4 18 29 24 33 42 14 23 6 1 10 1 2 0 1 9 3 1 4 12 6 2 4 0 3 1 6 6 1 3 4 0 1 1 8 7 1 4 5 3 6 0 3 1 2 14 8 4 6 5 4 1 Douglas L. Elliman's Houses. Douglas L. Elliman, of Douglas L. I'-lliman & Co., stated this week that up to the declaration of war the renting de¬ mand was phenomenal, in fact, new rec¬ ords were established. Since that time, however, there has been a falling off, though there is little prospect that a large nuinber of vacancies will exist at the close of the renting season. Con¬ trary to the general opinion, Mr. Elli¬ man contends that the supply of new apartments, of the better class, com¬ pares favorably with other years. He is advising the acceptance of fair offers. "Next year," said Mr. Elliman, "there will be a shortage, unless construction work is resumed. At the present time there are quite a number of large houses in course of construction, designed to be completed this autumn, and these should show only a small percentage of vacan¬ cies when the books are balanced. "The older buildings are in good con¬ dition. There are a large number of people who have not settled on their plans for the coming winter, and pres¬ ent indications point to a Mast minute rush.' As everyone knows there was a shortage in desirable space last autumn, and many of our clients anticipated a similar condition this year, therefore showed more inclination to close early leases. Once these were taken care of there was a natural lull." The appended list shows what is avail¬ able in the houses under the manage¬ ment of Douglas L. Elliman & Co.: Location 64th St. E...... .32 *Park Av....... 270 tPark Av....... 799 Park Av........ S.30 Park Av........ 840 *Park Av....... 876 Madison Av..... 274 Madison Av..... 414 Madison Av..... 416 Madison Av..... 777 *72d St. E....... 31 Madison Av..... 9.30 No. Rent- No. Height Apts. ed Vacant Lexington Fifth Av. .. *.'S5th St. W 48th St. E. 48th St. B.. 49th St. B. 49th St. E. 49th St. E. .52d St. E Av.. 901 787 105 18 20 24 26 28 49 57th St. W...... 130 .59th St. W...... 40 59th St. W...... 48 63d St. E....... 23 *72d St. E...... 125 *74th St. E..... 112 79th St. B...... 156 81st St. E...... 157 *86th St. E...... 64 86th St. E...... GS 86th St. E...... 103 Fifth Av........ 820 Park Av......340-.350 Park Av........ 383 Park Av........ 399 Park Av........ 400 *Park Av....... 417 Park Park Park Park Park Park Park Park Av......420-430 Av.. Av.. Av.. Av.. Av.. Av.. Av.. 5ftth St. E. 62d St. E.. 76th St. E. 82d St. B.. .82d St. E. . S-tth St. E. Sr^th St. E. 85th St. E. 79th St. W. 470 635 640 755 929 930 969 116 45 12*' 108 122 114 3 106 140 10 12 5 13 12 13 5 6 6 11 12 .5 12 10 9 5 5 4 4 4 6 14 9 9 5 14 9 14 9 14 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 17 12 13 12 12 12 13 12 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 12 20 108 12 39 24 26 10 18 18 22 15 10 24 9 54 8 8 6 6 6 7 56 18 18 8 54 20 42 28 42 24 48 12 48 24 34 24 29 35 26 13 12 37 12 25 .35 19 22 27 36 36 36 9 IS 24 15 36 0 37 24 22 9 12 14 16 11 8 20 6 36 7 4 5 4 3 3 46 13 15 4 45 5 40 25 25 19 47 12 48 24 34 24 29 35 26 13 12 37 12 25 35 19 22 27 36 36 36 9 18 24 5 72 12 2 0 4 1 6 4 6 4 2 4 3 18 3 4 1 2 3 4 10 5 3 4 fi 15 2 3 17 5 1 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 ♦Buildings in course of construction. tBuilding being altered. All tenants moved. re:cord and guidk is in its fiftieth year of continuous publication.