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REAL ESTATE
BUILDERS
AND
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 19, 1914
PRINTING TRADES FORM UPTOWN CENTERS
Publishers, Advertising Agencies and Supply Houses Locate Along Line
of Subway—New Structures Erected For Their Specific Occupancy
BY FENIMORE C. GOODE.
XE of the most important trade
movements of recent years is the
shifting of the printing, publishing and
allied trades from the old district in and
about Newspaper Row to new^ locations
further uptown.
This movement has not attracted
much attention because it has proceeded
steadily and unobtrusively and because
popular interest has been focused on the
spectacular changes along Fourth ave¬
nue and Fifth avenue and in the Twen¬
ties and Thirties adjacent to these thor¬
oughfares.
Firms Lease Large Space.
Nevertheless a surprising amount of
space has been taken by the printing
and allied trades in the uptown district.
The writer, for instance, has leased
more than 300,000 square feet of floor
space in the last eight months to firms
engaged in the graphic arts. And this
is in heavy type buildings alone, where
the actual work of preparing printed
matter is done. Aside from this, a great
deal of space has been rented to pub¬
lishers, advertising agents and printers'
supply houses for offices and show¬
rooms.
The publishers, advertising agencies
and supply houses have elected to locate
along the line of the subway, in new
office and loft buildings on Fourth, Fifth
and Madison avenues. Broadway and
side streets between 34th and 48th
streets. In this district lofts rent for
50 cents to one dollar per square foot
and offices bring from 11.50 to S3.00
per square foot.
Two Centers Established.
The printers, bookbinders, lithograph¬
ers, electrotypers and photo engravers
have established two new centers where
buildings for their special accommoda¬
tion have been erected. One of the cen¬
ters is Lafayette street in the neighbor¬
hood of Canal street. The other is the
district between 23d and 42d streets, 7th
and llth avenues.
Reasons for the migration are various.
In the first place, the demand for books.
magazines and advertising matter in
printed form has increased in propor¬
tion to the increase in population and
the growth of trade and industry in
New York City. In addition to this
normal growth the printing trades have
expanded by reason of the fact that an
ever increasing amount of out-of-town
work is being done by New York firms.
At the present time at least one-half the
output of printed matter in the United
States comes from Manhattan Island.
Furthermore, the invention of new ma¬
chinery with labor and time-saving de¬
vices has necessitated the acquisition ot
larger quarters in specially constructed
buildings by firms who keep abreast of
the times. Also, when their big cus¬
tomers moved uptow^n the printers were
forced to follow suit in order to hold
their trade.
In the old days most of the printers
were located in Pearl, William, Rose
and Vandewater streets, to the north of
the Brooklyn Bridge, and in Frankfort,
FKNIMORE C. GOODE.
Ferr)-, Beekman and Fulton steets south
of the Bridge. A few were to be found
west of Broadway in Chambers, Warren,
Murray and \'esey streets, Park Place
and West Broadwa}-.
Downtown Concerns.
In either location they were handi¬
capped by narrow, crooked, congested
streets which rendered trucking difficult
and expensive. The buildings they oc¬
cupied were low ceilinged, dark and
poorly ventilated. Elevator service was
of the crudest sort, floors were over¬
loaded to a dangerous degree and out¬
put was limited by lack of heat and ade¬
quate power,
A few buildings of heavy construction
erected for the printing trades twenty
years ago brought high rents and were
always well filled until the uptown mi¬
gration began. These buildings included
the Scott and Bowne building at Pearl
and New Chambers streets, the Munroe
buildings in Rose and Vandewater
streets, the Rhinelander buildings at
Duane, William and Rose streets, the
Metropolitan Realty building overlook¬
ing the Brooklyn Bridge and the Ex¬
celsior Power Companj^ building in Gold
street.
Construction a Decade Ago.
Eight or ten years ago several new
buildings were erected which compare
favorably with present day structures.
These include the Schieren and Chapel
Court buildings at Ferry and Cliflt
streets, the Healy building at Gold and
Ferry streets, the Black building at Wil¬
liam and Frankfort streets and the Hal¬
lenbeck building at Park and Pearl
streets; all of these structures (except
the Hallenbeck building, which will be
taken by the city to make way for the
new court house) are filled with tenants
and show good returns.
Two or three 3^ears ago the value of
Lafayette street for printing trades
l)uildings became apparent. It had two
great advantages over all other north
and south thoroughfares. In the first
place it was wide enough for six rows
'->f trucks to travel abreast and yet was
not obstructed by trolley or elevated.
In the second place it was the route fol¬
lowed by the Interboro Subway which
I'rought all points along its length
within a few minutes of important up¬
town and downtown centers.
Paper Supply Houses Move.
Paper supply houses were quick to
take advantage of this and a number of
leading firms to-day are located along
or just off Lafayette street. About two
years ago the Inverness building was
erected at Lafayette and Howard streets
and all the lofts rented to firms in the
printing trades. This year the Brad-
street Company finished a twelve-story
building on land purchased at the north¬
west corner of Lafayette and Howard
streets. All the space in the building
outside of that occupied by Bradstreet's
has been leased with the exception of a
part of one floor. Adjoining the Brad-
street is the twelve-story Aberdeen
building standing on a 100-foot plot and
finished last spring. Most of the space
in this structure is occupied by the print¬
ing trades. A few blocks below the
Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford Print¬
ing Company is erecting a sixteen-story
printing house with a plot area of 19,000
square feet. These buildings are popu¬
lar with printing firms that have as cus¬
tomers city departments, lawyers, rail¬
roads, the cotton and white goods trades
and financial interests.
Reasons for Change.
Several reasons account for the loca¬
tion of the uptown printers in the dis¬
trict lying between 23d and 42d streets.
Seventh and Twelfth avenues. Firstly,
land could be purchased at $500 to $2,000
a front foot and plottage was not difficult
to assemble. Secondly, the streets were
broad and the avenues comparatively
unobstructed. Thirdly, there were two
elevated lines and several trolleys sup¬
plying good transit, and there was the
prospect of the Seventh avenue subway
now under construction. Furthermore,
the new postoffice, the Pennsylvania
Railroad station improvements and the
West Side docks attracted firms who
would profit by their proximity.
The uptown district is in reality made
up of two districts. Between Seventh
and Eighth avenues are located the
firms who are willing to pay a premium
for space close to the business centers
of Fifth avenue. Broadway, 34th and 42d
streets, or are forced to be within easy
walking distance of certain large cus¬
tomers. West of Ninth avenue are
other firms whose business does not
justify the rents obtained near Seventh
avenue and who find that any location
is satisfactory as long as it is reason¬
ably accessible.
Among the first comers were the Fed¬
eral Printing Company and the Mc¬
Graw Hill Book Company, These firms
erected an eleven-story building in 39th