Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 24, no. 600: September 13, 1879

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. YoL. XXIV. NEW YOEK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBEll 1:3, 1879. No. 000. Pit6b'.s/i«t2 Weekly by Cbcjical (Instate llecorbl^ssotmimn. TERMS. 0!VK YKAK, in advance.. ..SIO.OO. Cohiiimnications should be addressed to C. -W. SWEET, Nos. 345 A.s-D 347 Bboauwav HOAA'- ABOUT BROADAA^AY. THR IMPR(JA'ED PRO.SPECTS. There can be no mistaking the signs of the times. The United States is entering upon an era of verj' great prosperity; our abundant crops, the deficient harvest in Europe, onr increased production of all tbo necessaries of life, the im¬ provement in our manufacturing industries, the movements of nionej' in every direction to de¬ velop our mineral and agricullural resources;, the strikes of laborers, showing the increased demand for workmen in all departments of tntde, all prove that we have entered upon a busj- and jirosperous era, with tho chances in favor of higher and still higher prices for several j'cars to come. As land and labor are the last to be ail'ected by bard times, so thoy are the la-st to be benefited bj- better times, yet alreadj' there is a marked improvement in the value of real estate; tbo melancholj' list of foreclosure is decreasing week¬ lj-, and while there maj' not bo a booming mark¬ et at advanced prices, there is certainlj- more imiuiry for well-located propertj'. Of course monej' must first be made in stocks and merchan¬ dise before any great investments are put into real estate. But it is safe to assume that well- located property in anj' part of the countrj' is selling at better prices than it was at the bc- beginning of this j'ear, while in this citj' un¬ improved lois in (juarters where there is a pros¬ pect of improveinent, have advanced from lifteen to twentj- per cent. Of course it is West¬ ern lands which have made tbe gre-atest advance in values. The great raihvaj' mania of '0."> to '7;;, which constructed roads through regions of country without population, has finally had the elTect of bringing quantities of land into market, bj' making it valuable for agricultural pur¬ poses. The result has been tho building up of vast regions west of the Missouri, and northwest of the Mississippi. The increase in tho value of railroads, such as the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, tho Kansas Pacific, the Northwestern, and tbe St. Paul, each tells its own storj' of the en¬ hanced value of lands in the far AVest. The great crops of the last two yeai-s have realized more in the market than tbe price of cheap lands, and hence the great prosperitj' of the new settlers in these distant wilds. This has reacted upon East¬ ern industries, and has made a demand for man¬ ufactured goods, which has set the mills going,^ and started anew foundries and workshops all over the country. "VVe may now confidentlj' expect to see a brisk market for landed propertj- all over the country. Emigration is steadily in¬ creasing, aud before two years are over, hundreds of thousands of English, Irish and Germans will land upon our shores. It would bo hard to make a mistake in the purchase of well-located, real estate. Now is clearly the time to invest. Of course, wo allude to that part of Broadwaj' j which begins at the Batterj' and ends at Four- ' tc-'enth street. Has this section any future.' At | ono time it was the pride of the citj-. Old New j Yorkers supposed that it would always retain tho j more lucrative retail business of this island. AA'ith AA''all street, the great warehousing and shipping interest, and tho Post Oflice at ils lower end to help, it really seemed as if Broiulwaj- would .al¬ ways have the monopolj- of the most profitablo bii-siuess in the metropolis. Y'et j-ear after j-ear makes it apparent that tbe retail trade has left our great thoroughfare below Fourteenth street, and that no business of a verj- profitable character can meet the rents which would net a fair inter¬ est upon the inve-tment in Broadwaj- stores. For this condition of afVairs the owners of Broad, waj- propertj' have themselves to thank. Under the leador.sbip of tho late A. T. Stewart, lliey combined to drive rapid transit from Broadwaj-; they would not allow surface' cars nor niukr- ground railwaj's, and when an elevated road was pr. jected some rwenty years since to run over the side walks of Broadway it was unaniiiiouslj- scouted bj' tho property holders. Thej-succeeded at length in driving business over to Sixth av¬ enue, and the retail trade has left Broadwaj- be¬ low Fourteenth street, as some think forever. AA'"c hear, however, that one more eflort will be made to reh.abilitate this fine avenue. Our read¬ ers will doubtless remember the famous arcade scheme which proposed to take out all the earth below the pavement to a sufiicient depth to admit of steam cars running on lerni ftmm with an abundance of space for light and ventilation. This bold plan involved the support of the present path- waj'and pavement bj' .arches covered with patent lights; the entire width between the bouses on each side, underneath, to lie devoted to steam cars, not for passengers onlj- but for freight as well. If this scheme were adopted it would give Broad¬ waj-a monopolj' of the freight traflic of the island and a share with the elevated roads of tho passen¬ ger trallic. The scheme was so tempting when first proposed that it had the approval of both Houses of.Legislature, but John T. HofTmau, then gov¬ ernor, at tho instance of Peter B. Sweenej', vetoed the bill. .Sweenej' wa.s at that time bewitched with the viaduct schomo, which linallj- proved abortive. Cominodoro Vanderbilt was one of those who favored 1:110 arcade plan and would have invested $•2,000,000 in it had it been authorized by the State. It is understood that his son, William H. Vander" bilt, thinks well of tho scheme now. There is a charter for an underground road ou Broadway which has not j'ct expired, that known as tho pneumatic tube enterprise; and it is snid that this charter has been secured and will bo so amended that tho arcade road can be built. Should this be done and Fourteenth street con¬ nected with the Forty-second street depot. New York would have the finest system of rapid tran- "-it in the world, not only for passengers but for freight. If the wholesale merchants of New York will uot forward some such scheme as this they must expect to see tho warehouses of the future located on that part of Westchester County which borders on Hell Gate and Long Island Sound. Freight cannot now get down the island, and it will be landed at depots on the other side of the Har¬ lem River, probably to be trans-shipped to Europe by way of the Sound. Tbe continuation of the converging roads at Fortj'-second street depot to tbe lower end of tbis island by some such scheme as the arcade plan would not onlj- make the stores ou Broadwaj- again be sought for bj' retail dealers, but the wholesale business of New York would, for a century at least, continue tc be trans¬ acted on the lo\yer end of tbe island. The condition of city aflairs is deplorable. Tbo quarrels between tbe Park aud Police Commis¬ sioners; the impotemjy of the Executive of tbe city in dealing with disorganized departments; the irresponsibility of the various ollicers of the city government, all tbis presents a very humilia¬ ting spectacle to New Yorkers. We want a thorough reorganization of our municiiial govern¬ ment. Our Mayor should have real authority; boards .should be dispensed with and a single ex¬ ecutive ofiicer take their place. Salaries should be cut down and sinecures cut oft'. This is a mat¬ ter vitally effecting tbe real estate interests of the city, and this is our apology for referring to what seems to be something out of our line. But un¬ doubtedly property in tbe city of New York to¬ day sells for less than it would do were we to have a wise executive, clothed with proper responsi¬ bility, and Park and Police Departments that would be a credit instead of a disgrace to the me- , tropolis. It is a pity that some effort could not be made bj- the people %vho own propertj- in Now York to clo-jt a legislature that would give us a wise charter—the present conditions of affairs is intol¬ erable. H0U:4ES OF NOVEL CONSTRUCTION. On the south side of Eost Seventj'-nret street between Fourth and LexinRton avenues, Mr. Chas. JlacDonald has just completed tliree bouses, which are well worth tb>> attention of those who admire progress in architecture aud approve a change in the monotonous style of buildinsrs that line our uptown streets. The Rfcokd has, ever since the revival of business, advocated progress in the construction of residences, and since Jlr. McCafferty and Mr. Buckley began a commendable innovation by erecting on tbo same block in Madison avenue several houses of different patterns, the example has been followed here and there by the younger class of builders who are now so busily engaged in improving Manhattan Island above Fiftj'-ninth street Mr. MacDonald we are glad to see has still further carried out our id':a by not only beautifying tbe front of bis houses bnt by making valuable changes in the construction of the main floor. Eacb house stands only upon a lot of 16.8x56, and yet there appears to be more room in tbe hallway than is generally found in a twenty foot bouse. True, it is done at the sacrifice of space in the front parlor, but tbe centre and rear parlor make up for it in width, thus leaving the front parlor virtually to be used as a large reception room. The dining room is on the first Iloor in rear of the parior and extends across the full width of the house, while the middle room or parlor, proper, is lighted by a transom light, the dining room being lighted by a dome, giving the entire floor a most cheerful aspect This rear room is connected with the kitchen by a stairway and dumbwaiter. In the wide hall created by the culling