Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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^66 RECORD AND GUIDE April 2$, 1906 convenience of the public, tbe closing room has been put on the second floor. The reception part of the closing room is 22 ft. high. Surrounding this are two stories of ordinary rooms in which the titles of the company may be closed wilh absolute privacy. Each room has a separate entrance, so tbat it is not necessary to pass through another room to reach It. The third fioor is likewise a double story, devoted to the ex¬ amination of titles. The part occupied by the examiners and the clerical members of the force again has a eeiling 22 ft. high, resulting in a perfect distribution of light and air. The rear wdngs of this fioor have been divided into two stories of smali rooms wdiere the attorneys who make a final disposition of the examination of titles can do their work in private and without interruption. The fourth floor is devoted to the storage of the company's plant, but the part occupied by clerks is again 22 ft. in height and absolutely light. The flfth floor contains a handsome board room, and the remainder of the fifth and sixth floors are de¬ voted to the surveying department and the clerical work of the company. The building is lighted by a large rear court which forms a series of skylights over the ground fioor, the best light throughout the building. In connection with each floor, where required, are extensive fireproof vaults in which the records of the company can be safe from fire and yet be available for instant consultation. The main security vault on the flrst floor was built by the Tork Safe Co., of York, Pa., and is as near burglar proof as such vaults can be made. The Building O' It. BY THEODORE STARRETT. Merely as a feat in construction the Title Guarantee & Trust Building is a most interesting operation. The methods used mark a distinct advance beyond any similar work that I know of. During the building of this structure the entire sub-basement was occupied by vai-ious kinds of hoisting and otber engines— for boring tlie holes for the plunger elevators, for compressing the air used in the carving, but nol a pound of coal was burned. The hoisting engines and the boring machines were all electric; the air compressor was run by gasoline. No coal smoke was allowed to belch out and saturate tbe structure with blackness and dirt. A very interesting thing is the foundation. It was necessary to go down eight feet below the foundations of the adjoining buildings in order to get room for the boilers, which are in the sub-basement. This was done without the use of any pneumatic work. The boiler room space was surrounded by interlocking Steel piling driven down six feet below the bottom of the foun¬ dation. This formed a water tight rim which sustained the surrounding soil perfectly. The work of installing tbe foundation was a very slow and tedious one. Each part of the work was done with as much care and caution as though the builders had five years in which to do the work instead of as many months. q'he skeleton was not finished until the middle of January, but owing to the forethought and the thoroughness used in the preparation of the various parts of the finish, both interior and exterior, the work of installation of these elements had ad¬ vanced so far that the upper portions of the building were ready for the trim and finished fioors during the month of March. Regarded as a machine, for such it is, the Title Guarantee & Trust Building is a wonderful structure. From top to bottom everything is specially designed for occupancy by the company's own staff of employees, and the conveniences, not to say luxu¬ ries, that have been provided for the entire office force in the way of perfect ventilation and temperature regulation equal if they do not indeed surpass the refinements which only Croesuses are supposed to enjoy. Such regard for the health and comfort of the clerks is not a sentimental thing, but is really induced by an enlightened spirit of enterprise which will undoubtedly bo copied by others. Brooklyn to the Fore Best Real Estate Business Ever Known in the Borough This Spring Season BROOKLTN in its real estate interests at thia present time, on the edge of May, is different from Brooklyn in any previous springtime. To the discerning man active in real estate and building one season is not exactly like any other corresponding in the calendars of previous years. He notes differences in the public feeling, in the kind of people buying, diffei-ences in what is liked or disliked, greater or less financial ability on the part of the people, more ambition, more enthu- siam, or less, as seasons come and go. Sometimes there is more willingness lo pay the price or the rent, or less content¬ ment and less satisfaction with houses and apartments—there are various things which a specialist in real estate notes to make one spring season very distinct from another in his recol¬ lections. This present spring has made a pleasant picture in his mind. He has noted less Irritation among the women house-hunters. Last spring there were premonitions of a panic because of the inability to supply the demand for rooins. Inquirers in great number returned to Manhattan unsuccessful in finding homes in Brooklyn. It will be remembered that South Brooklyn was particularly congested. Agents report that this has been the most satisfactory spring in the history of Brooklyn real estate. Renters have been pretty well supplied, with some houses and apartments left over for a later month. As a statement of average fact, it can be said that rents have not been raised; rather have they been for some classes of property made more moderate, because of a lessening of pressure. On the other hand, money being more plentiful, families have been better able to consult their tastes for more refined living than at any period since the long business depression which set in in the year 1S93. More comfort and satisfaction in life is now being taken in Brooklyn than in a great many years. In fact, one need not be so very old to remember the weariness of the horse- car and omnibus days, which circumscribed the population very much. We were just entering, fifteen years ago, upon just such a period as we are having now. when something happened to financial affairs, and they went all to pieces. Since 189S busi¬ ness has been getting reorganized and regulated to new con¬ dilions, and families to new ways of living, so that the year 190G finds people with more money than ever before, full of ambition to make more, and very desirous of having nice homes. It is therefore true that more people in proportion to popula¬ tion are interested in real estate and less in stock gambling, gold mines and distant swindling games, than ever. They feel (Continued on Page 769.) BANQUET OF THE REAL ESTATE CLASSES. Under the auspices of the West Side T. M. C. A. at Reisenweber's, April 17, 1906.