Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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October 7, 1899. RECORD AND GUIDE. 499 IQ Rlverelds Drive were disposed ol. The purchase oï two lots ln 2a!.h ôueet. east of 6th avenue, by Henry Morgenthau, appar- enily foreshadows the Immédiate inception of a considérable "building opération, as negotiations arc well advanced for a re¬ sale of tlie Bite, The purchase by the Lutheran Emigrant House Association Of No. 4 State street, waa consummated some time ago, However, ita publication this week recalls attention to th= vieinity of the new Custom House site. It was the taking by the government of the Association's oid home, No. 26 State ereet, which occasioned the presant purchase. Except one steamship company, ihe Association is the last of the occupants of large space in the block to secure new accommodations. Salcd of property below cbe Bowling Green are very Infrequent, in¬ deed. But this ciruuiiistaiice is due lésa to absence of demand than to absence ot available supply. In the new Chesebrough Building there ia only one ollice vacant, and the success of this venture has encouraged the owner to undertake another in the Immédiate neighbuihood. That there is not more brokerage activity is caused by the difficulty of getting sites large enough for modem improvements, and by much of the property biing ■ held in trust for estâtes, notably the Stephen Whitney estate. Aa a supplément to the reports of agents ln Manhattan and Bronx, which has appeared in this column relative to the rent¬ ing marlcet, the following interview with Cornélius G, Kolff on conditions in Staten Island will prove pertinent: "The renting season in Staten Island has been unusually active. The demand for detached dwellings bringing from !i'25 to $50 a montli is greater than the supply. Two-family flats also rent quickly, at from $15 to $25, in the neighborhood of manufacturing cen très, as Port Richmond and New Brighton. The manufacturing industries are expanding, and the resuit is more upjratlves. Tne demand for housing is, further, augmented by immigration from Manhattan—clerks and business men, who locate preferably within walking distance of the ferry at St. George. From St. George the Battery is reached in 2'6 minutes, the fare being 5 cents. It would pay some one to put up a modem elevator apartment house near the ferry, with suites renting at from $40 to $60 a month. There is no such house at St. George now. Besides, although the place has a population of 75,000, It does not possess a single fli-eproof storage warehouse. The outlook in the brokerage market is promising. Some important negotia¬ tions are under way concerning water fronts adapted for manu¬ facturing purpsses. Lota at from $200 to $SÛO are selling readily to builders, who improve them with houses costing between $2,000 and $5,000. The activity, of course, is along the trolley Unes. There are many old country seats in the market, with substantial, though antiquated, mansions. Such of thèse prop¬ ertiea as are in the path of the building movement are being bought by operators, and subdivided, the mansion being fre¬ quently altered into a club-house to serve as a social center for the settlement. Last year a client of mine purchased just such an old country seat, containing 12 acres, for $11,000. He has since sold $18,000 ln lots, and still has over half the original holding left, Any one who builds judiciously can rely on a gross return of between 10 and 12 per cent, on his investment. The tax has not been increased by consolidation, except in the case of farm land, for, although the assessed valuations are higher, the rate is correspondingly lower." THE CLUB AT THE DEWEY CELEBRATIOM. The Building Trades' Club stand, on Riverside Drive, was fllled on both days of the Dewey célébration with as bright and en¬ thusiastie a party, of members, ladies and children, as was to be found anywhere along the line of route. The arrangements for seating and malntaining in comfort for two days the six hundred people for whom accommodations were provided were admirable, and reflected great crédit upon the Committee In charge: Charles L, Eidlitz, Samuel I. Acken, Jr., and Wm. K. Pertig. The Club's réception of the several contingents of the land paradç was- îïl-oâi 'r,tetl'f:ert ?."d hearty. and ita cor.tviViitions of refreshments to halting companles most generous. The Club lunches were ap¬ preciated by all, and the souvenir glasses engraved with the por¬ trait of the popular hero of the hour especially so by the ladies. The whole occasion formeii rme that will be remembered wlth much pleasure in after life by those who took part in It, The marching members of the "Trades" received spécial notics froni this stand, in front of which, Gen, George Moore Smith's di¬ vision, by a lucky coïncidence, made one of its halts, and the General, of course, was the récipient of endless greetings and compliments, Among those on the Club stand were: Geo, C, Prus- slng, of Chicago; Mr, and Mrs. Ira Hersey, of Boston; Mr. and Mrs, Peter Gray, of Philadelphia; Mr. and Mrs. Hillgartner, of Baltimore; Mr. and Mrs, John WilliamH, Mrs. Chas, L. Eidlitz, Miss Eidlitz, Mr. and Mrs. W, A. Hankinson and guests. Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Ames, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Hatzel. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Rossman and guesta, Mr. and Mrs. J. Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs, E, P. Dodson, Mr, and Mra, J, H. Hankinson and guests, Mr. and Mrs. F. Kessing. Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Davis and guesta, Mr. and Mrs. J. Buehler, Mr, and Mrs, H. W. Miller, Mr, J, H. Shipway, Master Shipway, Mr. B. E. J. Eils. Mr, L, K. Prince, Mr. and Mrs. Wm, Bradley, Mr. L. Harding, Mr. and Mrs. J. Jonea, Mr, and Mrs. E. Van Houten. Mr, and Mra. "W. Harris, Mr. and Mrs, Prank Williams, Mr, M, C, Henry and party, Mr. and Mra. H, C. Baille, Mrs. E. A, Fertig, Master Kenneth Fertig, Mr, and Mrs, Wm. Hall, .Mr, and Mrs. John Little and gueats, Mr, J. A- Mossman, Mr, John Frick, Mias Eisele, Mr. and Mrs. T, D, Wa- delton, Mr. and Mrs, J. H, Parker, Mr. W, H. Nesbit and guesta, Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Brogan, Mr. and Mrs. Wm, Gaskell and guests, Mr. and Mrs. A. Davis and guests, Mr. T. Tait and gueats, Mr, J. W. Clark and guests, Mrs. John Beattie, Mr. J. F. Boorum and guests, Mr, and Mrs. L, Weber, Mr, B, Klein, Jr., and guests, Mr. and Mra. Jacob Burton, Mr. and Mrs. Qeo. C Hoe, Mr, and Mrs, A. Beinhauer, Mr. John Cooper and guests, Mr. Wm. Call, Mr. Wm. lirowue, Mr. E. P. Hicks, Mr. and Mra. C. R, Hedden, Miss Hedden, Mr. E. P. Poster, Mr. and Mra. C. N. Brizse, Mr, Oswald Speir, Mr. C. W. Gaylor, Mr. L. Wolf, Mr. H, D. Loundsbury, Mr. John W, Ferguson, Mr, and Mrs, C, S. Mc¬ Cue, Mr, and Mrs, August Fuchs, Mr. Richard Walsh, Mr. A. J, Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Dunham Wheeler, Mr. J. Healy, Mr. H. M. Toch, Mr. E. W. Klappert, Mr, F. E, Schaeffler and gueats, Mr. John G. Dey and Mr. D. H. Mapes, SOMETHING ABOUT FLAT BUILDING. Clarence True gives the following reasons why better building Lif flats and tenements cannot be obtained in Manhattan: "A twenty-flve-foot lot in any kind of a fair neighborhood ia cheap at $10,000. To construct a five-story flat. two families on a floor. flreproof first floor, semi-flieproof stairways. and all the other requirements of the Building Department, Health De¬ partment, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, Street Cleaning Department, Fire Underwriters, Police Department, and several semi-ofllclal (so-called) charitable associations, if built in the cheapest manner. wili cost $19,000, Then add Interest, taxes, commission, and légal expenses while building, whicli I bave found amount to 10 per cent, of cost of land and building, $2,900, you hâve total cost of building, $31.91)0. Now, the in¬ come, if all flats are rented and everybody pays the rent, would be. ten flats at an average of $20 a month, .$2.400 a year; but 20 per cent, must be deducted for loss of rent, $480; taxes and water, $500; janitor, coal. gas in halls, and insurance, $300; re- pairs (cheap buildings hâve to be repaired often), $300; total, $1,5S0; grand balance of $820. If owned by a "mlUionaire" spéc¬ ulative builder, the building will probably be mortgaged,which on buildings of this class is generaily for $20,000, at 5 per cent.; the interest is $1,000, to pay whlch he has .ÏS20. R. G. Dun & Co. report that 95 per cent, of builders fail, They ought to know, The answer is that people do not pay enough rent, It is impos¬ sible to build under the law and rent cheaply and get any in¬ come over 2Y3 or 3 per cent. It is better to loan money on a better class of improvements and get 4 or éy^ per cent. "I am interested lu four flats. one in East 2Stb street, a twenty- family, cold-water tenement; rents from $6 to $10 a month. It ran behind .$400 last year. Another on 102d street, two-family, $20 to $25 a month; just made things meet, Another in Manhat¬ tan avenue, rent $40 to $50 a month, pays a good income; and another in West 56th street, rents from $65 to $85 a month; pays very well, and expect It to pay hetter thia year." POOR'S MANUAL OF RAILROADS. The thlrty-second annual number of Poor's Manual of Raii¬ roads has been issued. and comes to meet an urgent demand for information and statistics regarding the properties whose securi¬ ties are now so actively dealt ln. It Ib saying everything com- pllmentary when it is remarked that the volume for 1S99 lives up to the standard of its predecessors, while meeting the re¬ quirements of modem progress, The value of the contents of Poor's Manual lies In the fact that they are prepared under com¬ pétent hands, and that the work Is then revised by the trained technical forces of the railroad and other companies whose prop¬ erties "âfê" trié sûojecT or- treatn'tr,-' iri the volume. There is, therefore, presented not only expert, but ihe ifîcally officiai, state¬ ments, whlch ensures the nearest pnssib. in nto absolute accur¬ acy and a corresponding reîlabillty. Thnahipowing remarks, taken from the publishers' circular, can be aies, piÊ.ndorsed: The vast ;Iiicrease in public Interest ln the secufi=*^P^hiif °w great municipalities that bas been manifested lu récent years"'^''^ resulted largeiy frora the same Influence that led to the formation of companies (lesigned to take over the opération of our leaiSing manufacturing in¬ dustries—namely, the tendency among railways to consolidation of their Interests Into Systems—thereby reducing to a considérable extent the opportunity for public investment in those properties. In consequeccG, capital seeking investment was largeiy diverted fo securities represent¬ ing public improvements and fo those of corporations organized to en¬ gage [q manufacturing and other enlerprlses promising good returns, .-Vn aceount of population, wealfh and indebtedness ot thèse Is conse- Quenfly indispensable fo every business man among us, and Is ade- quately set forth in the Manual. whlch contains elatements giving the flnancial cnndition, indebtedness, sources oC income, assets and popula¬ tion of every State, county, city and (own of any Importance issuing Ita obligaflons for any purpose, Wlth lhe Manual of Raiiroads every busl- npsfl man, without moving from his seat, can be possessed of every Im¬ portant fact relating to every securlty ln the United Statea likely to ba offered for ?ale