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REAL  ESTATE







AND







NEW YORK, AUGUST 7, 1915





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I                                         I

I   SUGGESTIONS   FOR   COURT   HOUSE  SITE   I





Real Estate Board Proposes Scheme Whereby City Can Utilize,
for Other Than Court Purposes, Properties Already Acquired





"T* HE Real Estate Board of New York
-*• which has for two years persistent¬
ly opposed the extravagant Court House
plan advocated by the Court House
Board, and until recently countenanced
by the Committee on City Plan of the
Board of Estimate, has collected data
showing the gigantic scale on which it
has been planned to spend taxpayers'
money. President Laurence M. D. Mc¬
Guire, of the Real Estate Board, in em¬
phasizing certain features which have
escaped public notice, makes sugges¬
tions with a view to having the City
utilize, for other than Court pur¬
poses, some of the properties
taken by the Court House
Board,

Mr. McGuire states that he has
been informed the requirements
of the County Court House are
for twenty-six chambers of about
2,000 square feet each. This
would be equivalent to 52,000
square feet of space without
ante-chambers, etc. Mr. McGuire
believes that a building properly
designed and planned to contain
100,000 square feet of space
would be sufficient for this spe¬
cific    purpose.    He    insists    that





square feet of space. If the scheme in
its present shape is carried out at a to¬
tal cost of $30,000,000, allowing for loss
of taxes from this real estate and 5 per
cent, interest on the money, a fixed
charge of $2,000,000 annually will be
saddled on  the  City.

Mr. McGuire believes that it would
be possible for the City to have private
parties erect a suitable building con¬
taining 100,000 square feet of space, and
lease this to the City for $2 a square
foot, or $200,000 per annum. In other
words, the present scheme, if it is car¬
ried out, means an annual loss of
practically $1,800,-
000 in carrying
charges in per¬
petuity, and the
tying up of $30,-
000,000. In an in¬
terview Mr. Mc¬
Guire stated:





"Why was so much property as this
taken? To this no one now seems able
to give an intelligent answer.

"It has been stated that a Civic Centre
is to be created and that State and Na¬
tional aid would indirectly be given
through use of part of the land. But
the best information is that neither the
National Government nor the State
Government has authorized the state¬
ments that National or State buildings
will be constructed on the plot.

"Another startling feature is that
practically all of the 110 buildings taken
by the City for this County Court House
have been demolished as quickly as the
City could get control of the property,
and in many cases the City paid sub¬
stantial awards to have leases with ex¬
isting tenants cancelled, so that the work
of demolition could proceed rapidly,

"The public is well aware of the fact
that through the persistent efforts of the







THE COURT HOUSE  SITE,  LOOKI.VG  NORTHEAST  FROM   THE   MUNICIPAL  BUILDING,   SHOWING THE  PROPERTY TO  BE  CLEARED

WITH THE HALLENBECK  BUILDING  IN THE LEFT FOREGROUND.

the  present   scheme   advocated    by  the         "The City has committed itself to the

Coiirt  House Board is wasteful because      purchase    of    350,000    square    feet    of
It the vast area selected for this purpose      ground  for  a   County  Court  House.    A

modern





is used, the total expense will be at least
$30,000,000, including the cost of the
ground, the cost of the building, carry¬
ing charges, expense of re-levelling and
regrading the district, etc.

Mr. McGuire states that the City in
the original proceedings secured 184,-
100 square feet of ground while the
second proceedings brought to the City
166,000 additional square feet, title to
which was vested in the City May 6
last. In other words, a total of 350,000
square feet of ground has been pur¬
chased for the purpose of erecting a
court     house     requiring     only     100,000





building containing 100,000
square feet would be large enough for
Court House purposes. Such a building
could be constructed on a plot of 40,-
000 square feet, allowing 50 per cent, lor
courts, etc.; such a building need be only
six stories in height. The fact that nine
times as much ground as is necessary
for this purpose has been secured is the
best evidence of the extravagance and
waste in handling this problem. Title
is already vested in the City of New
York to more than 110 individual build¬
ings which are in the plot secured for
County Court House purposes.





Real Estate Board, the sale of the 10-
story fireproof $700,000 Hallenbeck
Building, located at the corner of Park
and Pearl streets, for about $5,000 has
been halted temporarily. The Real Es¬
tate Board will continue to oppose the
demolition of this $700,000 building, and
what is virtually giving away, for
$5,000, tho power plant, glass, eleva¬
tors, radiators, and appurtenances in
connection with this building, not in¬
cluding the $180,000 worth of steel, all
of which has a tangible value far in ex¬
cess of what the City has been trying
to obtain for the building,

"In addition to the Hallenbeck Build¬
ing, which is a t-jn-story structure on a
plot of  13,600  square  feet,  the  City  has