December IS, 1917





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





773





BUILDING   MANAGEMENT





NECESSITY   FOR   RAISING   RENTS
EXPLAINED  BY   WESTERN  MANAGER

THE    necessity    for    the    increased     ever,  the  great   amount  of  capital   in-     our envy may turn to pity as we hear

rentals   for   many   types   of   both     vested in real estate must secure some     the   wail   of   the   taxpayer   on   May  31.

bii.inp^<; and residence orooerties which     i"eturn, and in order to make this pos-     Why   does   this   man   complain?     Why

business and residence properties wmcn     ^^^^^   .^   .^   p^^^^^^   ^^^^^   rentals   cannot      does   he  own   property?

were put into force this tail has been     remain static. Realtors and landlords         "Primarily, his purchase of property
evident to office building managers and     should use every means of informing     is an investment. On this investment
realtors for a long time. During the     the public concerning conditions such      he expects to get a fair return, com-
summer there was quite a general in-     as we have mentioned so that in cases     mensurate with the risks of ownership,
crease in rentals for residence prop-     where it is necessary to advance rentals     The money could be put into mortgages
erties, especially such as are heated.     the public will not feel aggrieved. If     or bonds and earn 6 per cent, for all
However, there has been no corre-     during the coming year it should prove     time. If property is purchased instead
sponding increase in rentals for busi-     necessary to advance rentals still     and developed and cared for it cannot
ness property.                                                 further in order to prevent the wiping     be rightfully disputed that its net re-
Dunng the past five years rents have     out of all net returns the public should     turn should be greater than this. This
been practically static until this fall.     know that such an advance is due     percentage of income should not de-
This condition has been maintained in     entirely to economic conditions, over     crease as time goes on. Therefore, as
spite of a constantly increasing rise in     which the landlord and the realtor have     our city grows and the values go up
maintenance costs for every type of     no control. Practically every article     and taxes increase, rents must go up
property.                                                          necessary for the maintenance of prop-     to keep the balance. Rent goes into
During this period rentals for heated     erty is still increasing steadily in price,     overhead; overhead goes into cost, and
apartments have been practically sta-     and the end is not yet in sight. How     the public buys goods enough above
tionary. Allowing for the usual differ-     far the cessation of the war would     cost to giv£ the merchant his profit.
ences of rental as between new and     affect prices and wages no one can fore-         "On downtown property it is the ex-
old byildings, and the fluctuations     tell. It is not probable, however, that     ception if the taxes do not exceed 15
which occur in dift'erent neighborhoods,     there would be any immediate recession     per cent, of the gross income, while 18
the ordinary householder has, until this     of prices. The same is true of wages.     to 20 per cent, is the rule. There are
fall, been able to obtain an apartment      Therefore realtors and landlords will     many instances where the ratio of the
or a house at practically the same figure     be compelled to figure their rentals     amount paid for taxes to the gross in-
in   1916-17  as   in   1912.                                     upon    the   basis   of   present   prices   of     come has  increased within  the last ten

The   same   is   true   of_ business   prop-     materials and present wages.                       years from 18 to 28 per cent,

erties as a whole.   For instance, a com-         Of the relation of taxes to realty in-         "This    means    an    increase    in    some

pilation    of    the    average    square    foot     come.  Ell  Torrance  writes:                          rents,   the  justice   of   which   it   is   hard

rentals   of   office   buildings   in   Minne-         "Does it mean anything to you when     to   convince   the   tenant.    The   fact   re-

apolis,  including  such   buildings   as  the     you see a  new  high  value  for the  tax-     mains,   nevertheless,   that   the   item   of

Security,  McKnight  and  the  Plymouth,     able    property    of    our    city?      Every     taxation   is   becoming   more   important

shows   that   in   1912   the   gross   returns      second   year   the   assessor   flatters   us     each   year,   and   the   tenant   sooner   or

averaged   about   $1.14   per   square   foot.     with a staggering increase in  the value     later will feel the  full  responsibility of

In   1917  the  average  gross  receipts   for      of real estate, and for  the moment  we     seeing that the money collected through

the  same  group  of  buildings,  including     envy  the   fortunate  land  owner.   Later     taxation  is  wisely  expended.'*

those given above, averaged about $1.18,                                                           ------

showing   an   advance   of   4   cents   per               PROBLEMS   CONSIDERED.               the   service   rendered.     Many   buildings

square  foot,  or  less  than 4 per  cent.                                            --------                                   have   the   night   watchman   operate   the

^iVr/-J^^   ^y^^-  ^^^^ .period,   from   1912     New York Building Managers' Associa-     elevator    for    tenants.      No    charge    is

to    917  inclusive,  maintenance  costs  of                ti^„  Receives  Reports from               "^^de for this service.

all kinds have nsen with great rapidity.                             Committees.                                 i" an effort to lessen the increase in
Everythingnecessaryfor the proper up-     rj^ hE New York Building Managers'     ^^^'' ^"^ ^^^^ ^^ 1^^^ ^''^ property,
keep of property, including both labor       | ^^ ^^^"^^ lork building Managers      Commissioner John J. Murphy of the
and materials, has been steadily in-       * Association is investigating a num-     Tenement House Department; has is-
creasing in cost. Below is given a     ber of problems which have been the     sued to all tenement house owners, a
table which includes a. few of the     source of a great amount of annoy-     warning to keep dumbwaiter shafts free
things in constant use in and about an                * •. l ,                           from rubbish tn U-ppn f.rp ^cnnr,*>c ;«
nfflre hiiilHinp- anrl the inrrpp<;p in nrire     ^^^^^' ^^ ^^^ members, and expense to                ruDDisn, to keep nre escapes in
ottice building and ttie increase m price     ^^^ers An investigation has been     ^^'^'^ ^""^^^ ^"^ t° ^^^P "leans of egress
for a period covering the last three     ^vvncii. mi invesugaiion nas oeen     from buildino's rlpar Thf> CrMr^mUcfr^-n^^
^ ^                                  made of employees m apartment houses,     ^[^[^ ouuaings clear, ine Commissioner
^                                                                        and reports received from several of     f^^?^ ^2^^ ^^'^ Department finds de-
Coal   .......................... 100%         the  uptown  managers  of  this  class  of     i^ctive   tire   escapes   all   over   the   city.

Waste   ........................    50%         structure,    indicate    that    women    em-     even on new-law houses.   The law corn-
Oils  ...........................    30%         ployees     make     satisfactory     elevator     P^^^   ^^^   owner  to   repair   fire   escapes,

Soap    .........................  100%         operators.                                                         ^^  ^°  replace  those  beyond   reclaiming.

Brushes    ......................    40%            Women    have    been    substituted    for        V^^  ^o^'  situation   is  becoming  more

Sponges   ......................    20%         men   in   many   of   the   high-class   East     serious   each   day.     Freight   congestion

Chamois   ......................    50%         Side   houses,   and   instead   of   being   a     f"*^   priority   shipments,   together   with

Brooms  .......................    45%         makeshift,   the   service   in   general   has     ^^bor trouble at the mines, have brought

Toilet Paper..................  100%         improved to such an extent as to excite     ^^^otit the most serious shortage experi-

Cables   ........................    40%         favorable  comment   from  tenants.    The     enced in years. ^

Paint   .........................    60%         wages  paid  to  the  women  is   less  than         ^"^^^      Administrator      Garfield      has

Oil, Boiled ....................  1007o         that   demanded  by  the  men,  and  up  to     "i"ged the President to endorse the im-

Varnish    ......................    17%         the present time they have proved more     J^ediate   enactment   of   daylight   saving

Pails  ..........................  133%         reliable.    The shortage of men elevator     legislation.    It  is  said  that  in   England,

Mops   .........................    75%         runners   which   promised   to   be   serious     ^*jO.<jOO  tons  of  coal  were   saved   in  the

Dry  Colors   ...................    50%         has    been    overcome.     The   Employees     summer of 1916 by turning the clock for-

Wages  ........................    20%f         Committee   reports   an   easier  condition     ^ard   an   hour,   and   France   saved  $10,-

It will be seen from these figures that     i" the labor market in general.                      WOOO ''V^^^'^'^J'^.^'^ ^ . i •
the average cost of materials in ordi-         The Tenant Committee reports as fol-         It has been found that, due to the in-
nary use, and wages, have increased      lows regarding closing hours: It is al-     creased water pressure throughout the
more than 60 per cent, during the past      most impossible to make a closing rule     city, by making changes in the piping,
three or four years                                       and stick to it, as each building has its     water will, by street pressure, rise to
During the same period of time taxes     own peculiarities in the way of tenants.     a considerable height thereby making
have also steadily risen. In 1912 the      For instance, in loft buildings in the     a material saving in the cost of opera-
tax rate was 32.19 mills In 1916 the     lower Fifth avenue section tenanted by     Jion ot both steam and electric pumps,
rate was 39.43 mills an increase of     clothing manufacturers, the closing hour     The Xyater Department furnishes the
22 per cent, in four years The tax rate     for the regular working day is six     data giving approximately the pressure
for 1917 has not yet been determined      o'clock, no services being rendered on     for the area in which any building is lo-
but our best guess is that it will be at     holidays, Sundavs or after one o'clock     cated, and by doubling that pressure,
least forty-five mills. That would mean      Saturdays, unless by special arrange-     the approximate height at which the
an increase of more than 40 per cent.     ment. This special arrangement means     water will be available, is shown. A
over the tax rate of 1912. That a taxa-     that in buildings where elevators are      slight allowance should, however, be
tion increase of this magnitude is     run bv electricity, permission is given     made for friction in pipes, etc,
serious is obvious when it is re-     to tenants to employ the elevator man         In the Long Island City Police Court
membered that business properties pay     to operate one of the elevators, with     an employee of a factory was sentenced
from 18 to 30 per cent, of their gross      the understanding that the tenants pay     to pay a fine of $20 or serve two days
receipts in the form of taxes. Owners     him direct for his services.                            '" jail for smoking in the factory. The
of residence property state that taxes         Apartment houses are kept open all     Legislative Committee of the associa-
take at least 10 per cent, of their gross     night, but the fires are banked at 10:30     tion desires suggestions on the pro-
receipts,                                                            o'clock, except in extreme cold weather,     posed amendments of the Labor Law
The real estate agent and the land-     when full pressure is kept up all night.     as affecting sanitary requirements in
lord do not hope nor expect to make a      The closing hour in office buildings is     factories now enforced against the
profit during times such as these.  How-     determined by the class of building and     owner.

RECORD   AND   GUIDE   IS   IN   ITS   FIFTIETH    YEAR    OF    CONTINUOUS    PUBLICATION.