August 5, 1911..





KECORD   AxND   GUIDE





167





lower part of the city was the sale by
the American Exchange National Bank of
one-half of the twenty-six foot lot at 132
Broadway, The buyer is the Guaranty
Trust Company, which recently acquired
the old Mutual Life property adjoining, at
the southeast corner of Cedar street. The
piece just sold will be added to the plot
and the entire site improved with a six-
story building to contain the largest
banking room in the city. The other por¬
tion of the lot will be retained by the
bank, and it is said that a five or six-
story banking annex will be built.

The largest sale of the week took place
on Morningside Heights and will involve
a building operation which will be dis¬
tinctly new in the city. The Clark estate
property, comprising the block front on
the west side of Broadway, between I15th
and 110th streets, was bought by Joseph
Paterno for about $700,000, and he is
planning to erect two sixteen-story apart¬
ment houses on the site, to cost about $1,-
000,000 each. These will be the tallest
apartment houses in the city, no struc¬
tures of this type having heretofore
reached over twelve stories. The site se¬
lected is one of the most desirable in this
section, owing to its unique suroundings,
which guarantee perpetual light and air.

There is apparently no reason why the
experiment should not be successful and
the operation will no doubt be watched
with'interest by other builders. Besides
having more than the usual amount of
light and air, the tenants in these build¬
ings %v:il have extra protection from
danger by fire. The law forbids the use
of exposed wood in buildings over twelve
stories in height and all trim must there¬
fore be fireproof. This adds considerably
£0 the cost of the structure, but the in¬
crease in rentable space should more than
offset this. The sale of this plot disposes
of the last of the vacant holdings of the
Clark estate on the upper West Side.
The growth of values in tliis section, since
the construction of the subway, is well
illustrated by this sale. In December,
liJ03, the opposite northwest corner of
116th street, a plot a trifie less than one-
half the size of the site just sold, brought
$130,000, or at the rate of about $13 a
square foot. In the present sale, Paterno
paid slightly over $31 a square foot.
. Before the panic of '97 the leasing of
apartment houses on speculation was a
rather common occurrence. Since then
but few transactions of this nature have
been closed. This week a row of three
eight-story apartments on West 113th
street were leased to one party at an ag¬
gregate rental of $800,000.

Any considerable revival of this form
of speculation is not particularly desir¬
able, as experience has shown that the
owners and tenants of the apartments are
apt to suffer in the end, by reason of such
leases.

A further mercantile improvement of
Madison avenue below^ 34th street is con¬
templated. Dr. Thomas A. Emmet, the
founder of the Woman's Hospital, is hav¬
ing plans drawn for a tall loft building
to occupy the large plot at the southeast
corner of 29th street. Five such struc¬
tures have appeared in this part of Madi¬
son avenue in the last two years, and the
character of the thoroughfare has been
entirely changed.

If the cabled report is true, European
capital is to be largely interested in the
new Woolworth Building. It is reported
that a loan of $8,000,000 has been negoti¬
ated abroad and that most of the amount
is to come from France. No definite con¬
flrmation of this report could be obtained.

The transfer of title of a strip of land on
the north side of 115th st, running through
from Eighth to Manhattan avenues,
reveals a rather unusual transaction. In
1S99, Hyman and Henry Sonn obtained a
lease of this property, which was to run
during the life of the owner, .Johnston
Livingston, and on his death the fee was
to be conveyed to the lessee. Mr. Liv¬
ingston died recently and in accordance
with the terms of the lease, the property
was taken over tRia week by the Sonn
brothers.

Trading in the Bronx fell off sharply,
only about ten sales being reported. Th«
most important transaction affecting real
estate in this borough was the announce¬
ment that a large theatre is to be built
by Archie Bimherg and J. Welter on the
■west side of Prospect avenue, just north
of 1153d street. It is understood that this
will be the finest theatre in the Bronx.





The Building Material Market.

Consumers of building materials
throughout the metropolitan district
rather expect a stiffening in the market
as a result of the formal start of subway
construction in Manhattan. This belief
was strengthened by the general under¬
standing that producers have been oper¬
ating their mills at reduced capacity, and





that this will result in a heavy demand
upon sucli departments as common brick,
Portland cement, lime, structural steel,
architectural iron, crushed stone, sand
and other materials taken al'ke by build¬
ing work and subway constructipn. As¬
surances were given, however, that noth¬
ing of the kind need be expected for the
reason that it will be at least six months
before the Public Service Commission's
engineering staff can approve the con¬
struction details as prepared by the vari¬
ous engineering companies having sub¬
contracts, and that it. will require at least
from three to six m'onths longer to re¬
ceive bids on these specifications. For
that reason there is no cause for alarm
regarding a general stiffening in build¬
ing material prices.

While it is true that manufacturers
have been operating their plants on re¬
duced schedule, there is a large reserve
stock on hand that will help to maintain
an even output during the remainder of
the year. If there is any curtailment in
supplies it will be in the higher grade of
materials for which there is an appar¬
ently increasing  demand.

One defect that may be expected, how¬
ever, from subway construction during
the remainder of the year, is a scarcity
of unskilled labor for excavation work.
The subway will require at least 22,000
diggers and foremen. The Catskill Water
Supply subterranean tunnel now being
drilled through Manhattan from Bronx
to Brooklyn will require at least 15,000
more laborers of this type. The comple¬
tion of the McAdoo Cross-Meadow Rail¬
road from Hoboken to Newark, of course,
will supply a part of this labor, but it
will seriously drain the marinet for this
kind of artisan in practically all parts
of  the  district.

Money continues to be easy for well
secured building projects here in Man¬
hattan, and from advices received from
the larger lending companies it seems
that prospective operations are coming
forward satisfactorily, especially in view
of the low prices now prevailing for
building materials.





Perfect Stucco.
Editor of the Record and Guide:

As to why stucco crazes, the whole
fault lies with the mortar mixer and the
mechanic. In order to obtain a uniform,
even and harmonious finish in stucco, the
work must be done within the working
period of eight hours; that is to say, as
much as can be finished from top to bot¬
tom, with no joints or joinings left over
for next day. If this is done and all
coats are so applied as to insure an in¬
itial bond, then crazing will be done away
with. As to the cement mixing, that ali
depends on the quality of cement used,
for there are cements that will not con¬
sume as much water and sand as others,
and then again take longer to set.

In applying the cement, judgment
should be used "by the mechanic as to
what can be done in a certain time; for
if cement is applied according to Mr.
Brown's suggestion, the veneer finish that
shows itself after three or four hours' set
will act the same as if applied on a con¬
crete wall, and, unless backed, pitted and
soaked, a bond will not result, and. if it
does, it is a very slim one, especially
where cement is applied in a coat of an
inch thickness.

Sands differ, and unless clean, sharp
sand is obtainable, the cement will be
very unsatisfactory, for the loam, clay,
spar and other ingredients found in sand
often are the cause of a crazed stucco.

An excellent body for stucco will be
obtained by using sifted granite grit,
clean sand and cement, in proportions
of 3, 2 and 1.

On buildings where the amount of work
is large, with night. Sunday and other
interruptions to contend with, it is hard
to accomplish work in one body, but if
discretion is used and as much is com¬
pleted as can be done in one body, and
if a good mortar mixer and good ma¬
terials are applied, the stucco will he
satisfactory all  around.              R.  M.   C.

New York,  July 30.





Shouldn't We Have Too  Much Capit-il ?

Real estate ought to be taxed more and
more, and the forms of personal property
that are taxed should be Hmitpd. The
Borough of Manhattan. New York City,
not long ago, had 2,200.090 inhabitants.
The parcels of real estate assessed were
100.000. The Individuals paying taxes on
personal property were only 13.000. A. S.
Hewitt, formerly Mayor of New York,
said: "The abortion of the tax on prop-
sonal property In New York City would
attract to tt the capital of the whole
world. . . . Taxes should be upon tangible
and   visible   property   aJid   upon   public





franchises which have an actual cash
value, as shown by their earn.ng power."
Mayor Gyanor has recently been making
a fight for these ideas, but without much
encouragement from the public.^"Col¬
lier's."





VENDOR AND BROKER.





When a  Real Estate Broker Cannot Le¬
gally Become a Purchaser.

A real estate broker while acting as
such cannot legally become a purchaser
of a one-half interest in the property
which is the subject of liis agency. A
sale of the other half interest to a per¬
son participating in such scheme with
knowledge of the facts is likewise illegal
and voidable. Brokers are trustees under
the law as it is laid down in a decisfon
just rendered by the Appellate Division
of the New York State Supreme Court
of the First District.

Justice Clark, who writes the opinion,
quotes Clark vs. Bird (66 App. Div., 2S4>
with approval in the following words;

"Where one undertakes to act as agent
for another in the sale of property, the
rule is inflexible that he violates his trust
by becoming the purchaser from his prin¬
cipal, unless the assent of the latter is
established   by  most  convincing  proof."

Citing from Story on Agency in section
211: "Hence it is well settled (to illus¬
trate the general rule) that an agent em¬
ployed to sell cannot himself become the
purchaser; ajjd an agent employed to
buy cannot himself be the seller. So an
agent employed to purchase cannot pur¬
chase for himself."

The language of Judge Rapallo in Bain
vs. Brown (56 N. Y., 2S5) is considered
by the court especially apposite; "If such
a transaction as is exhibited by the un¬
disputed facts of this case could stand
for a moment, the well established rule
that an agent to sell cannot himself be¬
come a purchaser, and that one who
undertakes 'to act for another in any mat¬
ter shall not in the same matter act for
himself, would be so easy of evasion and
■breaches of the rule so readily covered
up by contrivance that it would cease to
be of any practical value. When agents
and others acting in a fiduciary capacity
understand that this rule will be rigid¬
ly enforced, even without proof of actual
fraud, the honest will keep clear of all
dealings falling within their prohibition,
and those dishonestly inclined will con¬
clude that it is useless to exercise their
wits in contrivances to evade it. Thus
only can such rules be made useful in
promoting fair dealing on the part of
agents and trustees and preventing
frauds."





Changeful New York

No great city in the world changes its
outer garments so rapidly as New Tork.
It is only a few years since the Grand
Central Station was considered the latest
word in terminal building. Already it is
torn to the ground, and by May of next
year a wonderful new terminal will be
set in the heart of the city to rival the
Pennsylvania Station. Fifteen years is a
long span of life for any large building
in New York; for the increase of business
is so great that the architect rarely makes
due allowance for the natural increment
of more  than  ten years.

No sooner had the Pennsylvania Station
been opened to the public than the north¬
ern side had to be torn to pieces below
ground in order to give proper acccmiro-
dation to the Long Island traffic. The
number of large new hotels being built is
positively terrific. Yet the stream of
transient visitors seems to keep up with
the space supplied. So far as the gen¬
eral plan of the city goes, Xew York, ow¬
ing to her geographical position, is almost
immutable; but she makes up for her
limitations in that respect by a con¬
stant change of garments~"Town and
Country."





The Paris correspondent of a London
paper says that in the last 600 years the
value of land in Paris has advanced near¬
ly 52,000 per cent. The price of land in
the French capital is 812 times that of
the average price of land in other parts
of France. In the thirteenth century land
in Paris compared only as three to one
in price with land in the provinces. The
land of thirteenth-centurv Paris was
worth an average of £104 an acre.
"Tlie average value to-day is £o2,00n an
acre. It would he interesting to know
how the purchasing power of the rent
from a given site in Paris compares with
the purchasing fpower of the rent yielded
by the same property in the thirteenth
century.