Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS^ GUIDE.





Vol. XVIII.





NEW YOEK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1876.





No. 445





Published Weekly by

C. W. SWEET............President Am> Tbeasurer.

PRESTON L SWEET..............Secretary.

TERMS.
ONE YEAR, in advance...'.SIO.OO.
Communications should be addressed to

C.  W.   STITEET,
Nos. 345 AND 347 Broadway.





RENEWAL OF BUILDING ACTIVITY.
In the teeth of the hard times, and in the
midst of an almost hopeless prostration of
real estate interests, the year 1876 has wit¬
nessed another demonstration of the indom¬
itable energy and irrepressible enterprise of
our master builders. The climatic condi¬
tions of last -winter and spring were exceed¬
ingly favorable for building purposes. When
this was fully realized by our master builders,
and the prospect of an eai-ly spring dawned
upon them, they inaugurated, as if by com¬
mon consent, a -widespread and general
movement in building, distinguished less by
any unusually large undertakings in single
cases, than for its universality and variety.
It may be truthfully said that in every ward
of our city, buildings of greater or less mag¬
nitude, have been commenced during the
present year, embracing all the varieties
common to a great metropolis, from the two-
story cottage in Harlem up through the vari¬
ous grades and degrees, past the mammoth
flat houses, hotels, churches, until we reach
the Grand Elevator on the Hudson Eiver.
For weal or for woe, this movement has been
initiated, and the close of the year -will -wit¬
ness the completion of a majority of these
buildings, when the touchstone of " money
result" wiE be applied to their several cases,
and their success or failure determined.

Our reflections upon this movement sug¬
gest the foUowing commentary: 1st. The
almost total cessation of building improve¬
ment within the sharp limits of the fashion¬
able quarter, that is, from Forty-second
street to Fifty-ninth street, and from
Madison to Sixth Avenues. With the ex¬
ception of one or two structures, under¬
taken on private account in the heart of this
district, there are no buildings in progress to
be found until we reach the extreme outer
edge. JMacmanus, McKenna, and even Dug¬
gin and Crossman, all builders of repute,
this latter firm being the acknowledged
leaders in the building of fashionable resi¬
dences, have been literally crowded out on
the periphery of this arbitrary but bharmed
ch-cle, notwithstanding there are by actual
count over 300 vacant lots embraced within
its circumference.
^T^hQ solution ot this situation is plain,





The vast majority of these lots are held by
owners of such strength, and held, no doubt,
at so high a cost, that they are loath to offer
them for sale at present market prices, hop¬
ing by stubborn resistance and patient wait¬
ing to realize aU they esteem them to be
worth. It is to be feared, however, as in the
case of the dying Commodore, superior
strength only aggravates the death sti-uggle.
The strongest holders of the best vacant pro¬
perty, after years of waiting, with accumu¬
lated expenses of taxes and interest, "will be
obliged to yield to the stern logic of events,
or submit to have their lots passed by and
forgotten, in the general march of improve¬
ment. It were well for such parties to bear
in mind, that the time to seU is when people
want to buy; and oftentimes the price so
realized results in abetter gain than a higher
price realized after long delay in waiting for
a second purchaser. Our buUders naturaUy
covet the distinction of exercising their in¬
dustry in the fashionable quarter, but they
have learned to a nicety what price they can
afford to pay for vacant lots, however weU
located. MeanwhUe o"wners of high priced
lots must not wonder when our active and
pushing builders, seek green fields and pas¬
tures new, whUe the old ones are waUed in
by prohibitive values.

2d. This recent development of buUding
demonstrates with unerring clearness the
direction which the immediate gro-wth of
our city is likely to take. This tendency is
northeastwardly, particularly between Fourth
and Fifth avenues north of 59th street. In
this district, reaching as far as 86th street, it
is estimated, that about 150 private dwellings,
none of an inferior character, are now in
course of erection, and wUl be ready for
market during the coming spring. Certainly,
our ci-vdc growth could take no more-natural
or inviting direction than the one it has
chosen. The short blocks between Fourth
and Madison, and Madison and Fifth avenues,
together -with high grades and proximity to
the Central Park, afford an opportunity for
aeration that cannot be surpassed ; and the
completion of the Fourth avenue improve¬
ment removes every objection that could
ever be urged against a residence in this por¬
tion of the city. The great depth to which
the tunnel excavation was carried, along -with
the efl3.cient sewerage at the bottom of the
tunnel, serves as an effectual drain to this
whole region and removes a serious obstacle
to its improvement, as it wUl ultimately ren¬
der it the healthiest quarter of the city. We
therefore expect-to seethe blocks between
59th and 86th streets, and between Third and
Fifth avenues, built up solidly within the
course of five or ten years, and probably





before any great development of buUding is
commenced on the westerly side of the Park^
3d. We would particularly note the activity
that marks the vicinity of the Grand Circle
on Eighth Avenue.   In part, this is due to
the development of Rapid Transit on this
side of the city, although it maybe regarded
as the natural outgrowth of the meritorious
and attractive character of this particvdar
locality.   The completed Voorhees buUding
here looms up as a magnificent landmark,
flanked on the one side by the Rockingham,
and on   the  other  by  two imposing flat
houses now being erected on Eighth avenne.
Other buUdings on Eighth avenue are of a
marked degree of exceUence, and far superior
to anything that has for years been attempted
on that avenue.   The side streets are bristling
with activity in the erection of private d-wel-
lings of   genteel  and attractive exteriors.
Other indications are present of a marked
and   vigorous   bxiilding   interest   in   this
neighborhood.    We shaU watch with curi¬
osity its further development,   to   discern
whether this wUl constitute a base of opera¬
tions that may ultimately extend along the
Boulevard and eventuaUy result in a general
improvement   of the west   side, that  now
neglected and heavUy oppressed part of our
real estate.   Any such demonstration, as we
have indicated, would certainly be hailed
-with pleasure by the overburdened and badly
used land owners.

4th. We note further, as a prominent char¬
acteristic of these new buUdings, the strict
regard paid to economy of construction,
strength of materials and convenience of
plan—ornament and embellishment are treat¬
ed as secondary objects. In the interior fin¬
ishing, particxUarly of dwelling houses, we
observe that buUders have abandoned entirely
the use of those fanciful veneers of rare and
delicate woods that were in such common
use before the panic, and which added so
greatly to the expense of a building without
offering any corresponding increase of real
value. The use of clear pine has been quite
generaUy resumed, whUe walnut is employed
for the principal story. In aU the details of
the finish of dwelling houses, we can readUy
notice the exercise of a wise and judicious
economy.

5th. We may naturaUy inquire, to what
class or to what individuals we are indebted
for this wide-spread buUding activity. A
careful research into the records develops the
fact that there are fewer blocks of buUdings
projected than were wont to be in active
seasons before the panic. Most of the con¬
structions are single buUdings, erected by pri¬
vate owners, and are principaUy of an invest¬
ment character.   These cases we classify, as