February 3, 1917





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





73





FOURTH   AND  LEXINGTON  AVENUES

AND   THEIR  FUTURE   POSSIBILITIES





By  WRIGHT BARCLAY





F-> OURTH avenue, now the greatest
wholesale commercial thoroughfare
on Manhattan Island, has attained this
distinction in a little more than ten years.
The avenue laid dormant for a great
many years and it was not until 1904
when the Fourth avenue subway opened
that the avenue began to receive recog¬
nition and believed by a few to have a
possible future. But in 1907 a boom
seemed to strike the avenue all at once,
values rapidly increased, all the old prop¬
erties that for so many years stood in
the same name, were sold principally tQ
operators and then to builders who
erected modern twelve and sixteen-story
store and loft buildings, whichj as I have
said before, has made Fourth avenue the
greatest commercial thoroughfare on
Manhattan Island.

This great building movement was
made possible, by the large loaning insti¬
tutions who, also recognizing the value
of property on Fourth avenue, and be¬
lieving in its future, made liberal build¬
ing and permanent loans to responsible
builders; of course, this resulted in many
new buildings being finished at about the
same time and, although many of these
buildings rented quickly, still there was
more space on the market for rent than
could be absorbed upon the completion
of the buildings. Therefore, the large
loaning institutions decided not to make
any more loans to builders for Fourth
avenue projects, until such time as the
demand should catch up with the supply.
This has now been accomplished.    Many





BUILDING   RECORDS   OF   THE
BOROUGHS.

1907.

Manhattan    .............     931          $73,028,350

pronx   ..................  1,923           20.070,544

Brooklyn   ............... 8,079           61,804,763

Queens   .................3,929           15,944,259

Richmond    ..............     840             3,055,^90

1908.

Manhattan    .............     6o7          $79,209,826

Bronx   ..................  1.797           20,015.,5.55

Brooklyn   ............... 6,138           36,206.272

Queens   ................. 3,89o           13,M2,000

Richmond    ..............     763             2,644,221

1909.

Manhattan    .............     940        $122,139,062

Bronx   ..................2,241            37,776.210

Brooklyn   ............... 9,844           54,572,042

Queens   .................4,758           IS.^I.O^J

Richmond    ..............     730             2,36i,2i6

1910.

Manhattan    .............     781          $92,92.5,369

Bronx   ..................2.026           "■OS^.^Oo

Brooklyn   ...............  5,613           33,402,1x2

Queens              ............4,133           15,144,3ii

R?ohmond..............     841             2,975,190

1911.

^-r- ......::•■::; i,?l?    ll.iS

^u:±°--:-::::::;::::i;i?t      illtli

Rkhmond .::.::::...... 910               2,281,070

1912.

Manhattan   ..............     757         $116,325,135

Bronx                         .......   1,310           34,644,400

Brooklyn            ........... 5.105           36,472.377

Queens...............4,821            19,642,222

Richmond    ..............  1.008             3,153,25o

1913.

Manhattan..............     553          570,074,585

Bronx   .................     823           20.0o7,6S9

Brooklyn         ...........3,712           31.556,611

Queens      ........     .....4,602            17,293,810

Richmond ••.-.............     956             2,987,914

1914.

^r^o-r'^"........:::::: foi      'l6;i»

—"■ ••••■•••■•;;:;: l:li        ?l;Si

Richmond ■•.■.•.v.......... 1,067               1,839,761

1915.

B^onx             ...........         942             27,922,200

B ooklyn •.■:::::::::....: 5,352             ^•513.540

Queens    .................5,608           ^SlS'Jlf

Richmond    ..............L197             2,iilS,m'

1916.

-?:^-^- ........::;;:  ^f^    *^1^;S5

S° •■•••■■•;::;::: 5II?        ^^

yueens.................    .                     ^ 248,134

Richmond    ..............  l.,oii->                i._i-,

The foregoing tabulations are   the totals of
the plan filings as printed in the Record and
Guide each week, in -which no account Ib taken
ot plans subsequently -withdrawn or estimates
revised.







WRIGHT   BARCLAY.

of the buildings are 100 per cent, rented
and others have but few vacancies.

The property that still remains unim¬
proved on Fourth avenue. I recommend
as a good purchase to anyone, for as soon
as the European war is ended this prop¬
erty will be in great demand. There is
now need for more new buildings on
Fourth avenue, but building is held up on
account of the high cost of building ma¬
terial, the scarcity and high price of labor
and furthermore the loaning institutions
will not make building loans until the
building conditions again become normal.

The recent zoning of the city should
have a beneficial effect on real estate in





Fourth avenue, for should manufacturing
have established itself in the modern
buildings alone this avenue, the value of
the properties would have been materially
decreased, for the renting rate in the
manufacturing buildings is only about 50
to 60 cents per square foot, while in the
non-manufacturing buildings the rentals
range from 70 cents to $1 per square foot.

I should also like to say a few words
regarding the present state of real estate
on Le.xington avenue, south of 42d street.

This avenue received a great shock
when it was finally decided that the new-
subway was not to go further down Lex¬
ington avenue than 42d street. The
property owners had long been looking
forward to the line of transportation
which would have greatly helped develop
lower Le.xington avenue. Now that this
subway line has been abandoned, there
is still another means to develop lower
Lexington avenue and this is, not to
shut it off at Gramercy Park. Extend
Lexington avenue, through the center of
Gramercy Park, and cut a street from
the south side of 14th street (opposite
Irving place) and join Fourth avenue at
about 12th street. At this point uptown
traffic could be diverted either up Fourth
avenue or up Irving place into Lexing¬
ton avenue, and southbound traffic could
be diverted either down Fourth avenue
into the Bowery or down Fourth avenue
into Lafayette street. The surface cars
now running on Lexington avenue could
he continued south through Gramercy
Park, Irving place. Fourth avenue and
then down the Bowery or run south¬
west through Astor place and then down
Broadway.

This cut through Gramercy Park
would in no way injure that section as
two small parks could still be main¬
tained on each side of the street open¬
ing. The expense to make Lexington
avenue continuous as herein described
would be comparatively small, and
would not only greatly increase the real
estate values on Lexington avenue, but
would also do much to relieve the pres¬
ent   traffic   congestion.





FAMOUS   GRAMERCY  PARK  SECTION

STILL   RETAINS  INDIVIDUALITY





By HERBERT LUCAS





"And when the evening mist clothes the
riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and
the poor buildings lose themselves in the
dint sky, and the tall chimneys become
campanili, and the warehouses are palaces
in the night, a-nd the wliole city hangs in
the heavens, and fairy land is before us—"

THAT was written of London. But
have we not all thought much the
same of different aspects of this won¬
derful city—and regretted that we could
not e.xpress it.

Such at any rate has many times been
my thought, when looking out over
Gramercy Park, with the great build¬
ings twinkling with thousands of lights
before me, the beautiful Metropolitan
tower in the m.iddle ground and even the
Edison Company chimneys, mysterious
and picturesque in the distance.

To many, knowing of the park by re¬
pute only, it might seem that its glory
departed when the town's extreme wealth
and fashion moved farther uptown—but
this is far from being the case.

Tlie charm is still there—also many of
the old residents—indeed there are many
who have lived in the same house for
over fifty years—people who were friends
and neighbors of Samuel J. Tilden, John
Bigelow, Cyrus W. Field and his brother,
David Dudley Field, Abram S. Hewitt—
the names could be continued indefinitely
of the prominent men who have lived
there from time to time.

To my mind it is a most practical an¬
swer to much of the criticism that has
arisen over the new Zoning Laws re¬
cently put in force, as here is a com¬
munity that has kept its own individual¬
ity for over three generations--owing
solely to the imagination and far-sighted¬
ness of Mr. Ruggles, its founder, and it
is now like an "oasis" in this big town.

It was thought by som.e that the ad¬
vent of the apartment house would
change it—and while it has changed the
sky-line and brought more people there.





it remains otherwise very much the
same—and very much the same kind of
people  live  there.

I believe the land values are about the
same as they have been for years, and
not being effected by the possibilities of
Ijusiness upsetting them, it seemed an
ideal place to work out the principles of
the community apartment dwelling, or if
you prefer, the co-operative apartir.ent,
though the latter name has suffered
somewhat under the exploitation of the
speculative builder.

The idea has, however, been success¬
fully worked out in at least three of the
buildings on the park, showing that care¬
ful financing and management can make
this  plan  successful.

As an instance, take one owner of
whom I knew. The location, arrange¬
ment and decoration just as he wants
them, a voice in the management of the
building with broad-minded and con¬
genial associates, his apartment costs
him about one-third of its real rental
value, after all assessm.ents are paid and
after allowing for 5 per cent, interest on
his invested capital.

Does not this go far toward solving
the problem of living here for many
people?

It seems to me that it does show
that for a moderate investment—much
less than would be necessary to own
one's own house—it is possible to live ap¬
proximately where one would like to
live, and be surrounded by one's own
kind.

In many instances old houses have
been changed into small apartments, and
very successfully too, as the designer
has kept them in harmony with the sur¬
roundings so they could easily be m.is-
taken for private houses. These apart¬
ments are usually of from two to three
rooms and are very attractive and much
sought  after.