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Vol. LXXXVIII
DECEMBER 23, 1911
No. 2284
ALTERING UNPROFITABLE APARTMENTS
Reduced Incomes in Old Houses Can Be Offset By Intelligent Alterations
—Changing Large Suites Into Small Ones a Frequent Source of Profit.
IT was pointed oul in last week's issue of
the Record and Guide that many own¬
ers of business property in various sec¬
tions of the city fail to realize the in¬
come they should, beauae they do not
devote sufficient time to studying con¬
ditions affecting their holdings. It was
also shown by concrete examples how a
number of property holders had added
very materially to their incomes by alter¬
ing buildings to meet changed conditions.
In some of the more notable cases, the
total cost of the alterations and a profit
beside, were paid out of the increased
rental the flrst year, Olher instances
disclosed very material profits and still
others showed how owners by making
small alterations were able to keep good
tenants who would otherwise have moved
to more modern structures.
The problems which owners of bus¬
iness property have been called upon
to solve, also confront the holders of
apartment houses. In the last few years
the need for apartment owners to keep
abreast of the times, especially in the
great apartment house district of the
West Side, has heen strongly emphasized.
Since 190S, scores of modern houses have
afisen in this part of the city and the
occur, and the majority of owners fail
to appreciate that the amount lost by
carrying vacancies would in a short time
equal the cost of alterations. In some
cases it is necessary to spend consider¬
able amounts to modernize buildings. In
others a very few dollars judiciously ex¬
pended will obtain new tenants.
A broker recently showed an apart¬
ment on Central Park West to a pros¬
pective tenant and failed to make a
lease because the premises looked dark
and dingy. A few days later, another
suite in the same house became vacant
and, at the broker's suggestion, the o-wner
had tlie kitchen and bath room enameled
in white at a very slight expense. The
same party that had refused to rent the
first apartment, took the second after the
touching up process, and the owner thus
secured a responsible tenant by the use
of a little labor and white paint.
Another house on S5th street had lost
a number of tenants because a few mod¬
ern conveniences were lacking. Tlie
owner was able to appreciate what was
needed and installed electric lights, hard¬
wood floors and modern plumbing. The
cost was considerable, but before the al¬
terations were completed tenants were
street. The original improvements con¬
sisted of several (ive-story apartments,
containing seven rooms and batii. Each
house had a separate entrance on Broad¬
way. The average rent obtained from the
old apartments was )Fi50 a month each,
and the total rent-roll for the building
was about $20,000. It can be readily
seen that the income obtained was en¬
tirely inadequate to the present value of
Broadway property. The owner, not
knowing what to do, leased the houses to
a practical real estate man, and tlie lessee
immediately altered the buildings exten¬
sively. Ey removing all the avenue en¬
trances and making one large en¬
trance on TSth street, the entire Broad¬
way frontage was left available for
stores. The old fiats were sub-divided in¬
to suites of two, three and four rooms
with either kitchens or kitchenettes. Good
plumbing, electric lights and other mod¬
ern conveniences were installed. Within
a very short time after the alterations
were completed the apartments were en¬
tirely rented to an excellent class of ten¬
ants. The three-room apartments now
bring in as much as did the seven-room
flats before, and the entire income of the
house is about $50,000, two and a half
A PROFITABLE ALTERATION ON THE WEST SIDE.
AN OLD BUILDING THAT BRINGS IN A BIG RENTAL.
builders have vied with one another in
producing modern and luxurious ciuar¬
ters. The normal increase in population
has been insufficient to flll all the struc¬
tures, both new and old, and many of
the tenants in the modern buildings have
been drawn from older houses. Apart¬
ments which have always been success¬
ful heretofore, have experienced losses
this year, never previously known, and
the indications are that another year will
flnd these same buildings suffering still
more.
The owner of the substantial apartment
of ten years ago, but which lacks the
modern finishing touches so essential in
the eyes of the present-day tenant, is
facing a situation which requires study
and the exercise of good business judg¬
ment. Instead of maintaining an atti¬
tude of supine discontent and bemoaning
the fate which has befallen him, he
should apply himself to the task of keep¬
ing up with the times and by making
necessary and intelligent expenditures,
place his property in a position to com¬
pete with newer structures. Brokers
and agents are constantly trying to im¬
press on their principals the necessity of
making reasonable changes and are con¬
tinually being met with the reply, "I can¬
not afford to spend any money now be¬
cause I have several vacancies," The
time to spend money is when vacancies
secured for all the vacant suites; to-day
the house is in a profltable condition. A
corner building on Manhattan avenue
which, because of its light and well
planned suites, was desirable, became un¬
productive because the plumbing was old
and the bath rooms contained tin tubs.
The owner became disgusted and sold the
house. The buyer immediately put in
new plumbing and enameled iron tubs,
and ill a short time rented all his apart¬
ments at a higher price tlian had ever
before been obtained. These are ex¬
amples of what may be accomplished by a
moderate expenditure of money.
In some cases radical alterations are
necessary to meet the changing condi¬
tions in cerlain neighborhoods and while
these frequently involve considerable out¬
lay, the results obtained are sure to
justify the expenditures. For three years
past there has been a constantly increas¬
ing demand, on the part of responsible
tenants, for apartments of two, three and
four rooms. The supply has not equalled
the demand, as only a few new houses of
this type have heen erected. Many of the
older houses which contain large suites
are so planned as to permit of subdivi¬
sion, and in some cases this has been
done with astonishing results.
One of the most conspicuous examples
of this form of alteration can be found
on Broadway, at the corner of TSth
times the original amount. Of course, the
stores are capable of producing a much
better return than the old ground floor
apartments, and exclusive of the slores
there are now fifty tenants as against
thirty before altering. The cost w)as
considerable, probably in the neighh. ,
hood of $50,000, but the greatly increased
income makes the property one of the
most productive in the district.
Now and then one flnds an owner far-
seeing enough to keep abreast of the
changes in a given neigliborhood by ad¬
justing his property to meet conditions
as they arise. The owner of the Pasa¬
dena apartment house at the corner ot
Broadway and Gist street is one of these.
The building is twelve stories high, of
skeleton steel construction and was com¬
pleted about six years ago. Originally it
vvas planned to contain only large suites
of nine or ten rooms. This part of Broad¬
way is fast going entirely into business,
and apparently it will not be long before
apartment houses will be hard to flnd in
the neighborhood. Five years from now
there will probably be a much greater de¬
mand for a transient hotel or an office
building at this point than for a residen¬
tial structure. Fully realizing this trend
tlie owner has altered several of his
large suites into ones containing only
four or five rooms, and on the Broadway
side, the second floor apartment has been