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AUGUST 24, 1912
AN AVENUE OF EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Madison Avenue Holds Out Many Inducements to the Operator and
Builder—Department Stores May Possibly Locate North of 42nd Street
ADEC-\DE ago Jladison avenue was
widely known as a di^Un. the resi¬
dential thoroughfare, .secumi only in
prominence to Fifth avenue. Willi few-
exceptions, it could not boast of the ela¬
borate architecture possessed by its
slightly rnore aristocratic neighbor, but
the homes established there were occupied
by people of the same social .standing as
those located on Fifth avenue. Both
sides of the way as far north as SOth street
were lined with three and four-story,
brown stone dwellings of the conventional
New Tork type, and the same air of quiet
gentility prevailed as was formerly en¬
joyed in the social center of old Green¬
wich Village and is still to be found on
Fifth avenue, just north of 'Washington
Square.
Long after trade had entered Fifth
avenue to a considerable extent, shops
were almost unknown on Madison ave¬
nue, and there were no indications that
it would become in the near future an
active trade center. The last few years
has seen a remarkable change in the ap-
a benefit rather than a detriment, as the
subway and surface car lines of Fourth
avenue are but a short block away and
the absence of cars makes for ease in
handling of goods by trucks and help.s
to prevent an undue congestion of
vehicular and pedestrian travel.
-A, number of new loft buildings have
recently been constructed, and several
others are under way. Considering the
amount of building which was undertaken
in this portion of the avenue within a
comparatively short space of time, it is
surprising to find how well tenanted the
space is. Those structures which have
been completed a few months are nearly-
all rented and in the unfinished ones
leases are rapidly being made from the
plans. The average value of loft space
is about 75 cents a square foot, while
stores have rented for about $2 a square
foot, which latter price includes base¬
ment space. Most of the buildings take
manufacturing tenants, but the firms
that have located here are of a high
grade and the objectionable features
was sold for $135,000, and most of the
available building sites are held at about
$6,000 a front foot.
Between 34th and 42d streets the avenue
has not suffered the same change owing
to the fact that the property was pro¬
tected by two strong restrictions, known
respectively as the Murray Hill covenant
and the Burr restriction. The Jlurray
Hill covenant covered the territory be¬
tween Park and Madison avenues from a
point just north of 34th street and as far
north as 38th street. This covenant has
thus far proven strong enough to with¬
stand the encroachment of tjusiness, and
there are no indications that it will be
broken in the very near future. JIany
attempts have been made in the Courts
to remove it, but with one exception they
Slave failed of their purpose. The
Cameron Building at the northeast corner
of 34th street stands on a plot a small
portion of which was covered by this
restriction, but the Courts held' in this
case that the portion affected by the
restriction was so small as to be of no
M.\DISON AVENUE—SOUTH PROM SOTH STREET.
THE MURRAY HILL SECTION OF MADISON AVENUE--MR.
MORGA.N'S RESIDENCE ON THE RIGHT.
pearance of the entire street south of
59th street, save only in a few blocks on
Murray Hill, and today the f.inner sites
of fashionable residences are covered by
tall office buildings, loft structures and
hotels.
This rapid change has been due largely
to two causes, the proximity of Fifth
avenue and the increasing demand for
avenue property by mercantile houses.
The first business to be found on Madi¬
son avenue was an overflow from its
weste'rly neighbor; the most recent .struc¬
tures have resulted from the occupation
of Fourth avenue by large wholesale
firms formerly located further downtown.
The influence of Fourth avenue has
been most distinctly felt in the section
from Madison Square to 34th street; in
fact, this influence today is considerably
outweighing that of Fifth avenue, A few
old concerns from the latter avenue have
leased and altered old dwellings and will
no doubt stay there for many years; but
with these exceptions, it seems very
probable that in a few years more the en¬
tire district will be rebuilt with loft and
ofHce structures. The fact that there is
no car line on this part of the avenue is
usually attaching to cheap manufactur¬
ing are noticeably absent. The portion
of the avenue fronting on Madison
Square is particularly desirable on ac¬
count of the excellent light and air and
space in the structures fronting the
Square is in good demand. A large build¬
ing is now in course of construction at
the southeast corner of 25th street which
will be occupied in part by the large
wholesale firm of Frederick Victor &
Achelis. -As this concern is one of the
largest of its kind in the city, others in
kindred lines will no doubt locate in the
same or nearby structures. The project
formed last year for a twenty-four story
loft building on the site of Madison
Square Garden has been temporarily dis¬
continued, but an adequate improvement
on this site will probably be undertaken
before many years.
The increasing demand for Madison
avenue property to be used for mercantile
purposes has very naturally resulted in
a material rise in land values. A few
years ago a full lot could have been pur¬
chased in the blocks just south of 34th
street for from $75,000 to $80,000. '^'ithin
the last year a single lot near 30th street
practical use by itself and that the
owners were therefore entitled to use it
in conjunction with their unrestricted
adjoining property for mercantile pur¬
poses.
The Burr restriction has not proven as
strong and is but little taken into con¬
sideration at present. It covered the
property between 40th and 44th streets
from Madison to Fifth avenues, which
was a part of the old Burr farm border¬
ing on the old Middle road and Lowes
lane, now 42d street. Recently the Johns-
Manville Co. erected a tall building on
the southeast corner of 41st street, on
ground covered by the Burr restriction,
and this would seem to indicate that the
restriction was no longer binding.
Besides these restrictions, wealthy prop¬
erty owners on Madison avenue have lent
their aid in preserving the residential
section intact, and when parcels have
been offered for sale unrestricted they
have generally been acquired by some one
interested in preventing the encroachment
of business. Murray Hill property has
always been valuable, but its restrictions
h^ve held back any great enhancement
in the last few years, and whereas land