Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 85, no. 2184: January 22, 1910

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January 23, 1910 KECOKD AJND GUIDE 157 ^ ESTABUSHED-^M,H^H2iyA186a. Dp6teD f I^l Estate . Building ^cKitectui^e .HouseHoid DESOfiATOrf.. Bi/sufess A^toThemes of GeiJer|>1 lliTERESi,_ PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed tO C. W. SWEET published Every Saturday By THE RECORD AJVD GUIDE CO. President, CLINTON W. SWEET ' Treasurer, F. W, DODGE Vice-Pres. & Gen!, Mgr,, H. W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLER Nos. 11 to 15 East 24th Street, New York City (Telephone, Madison Square. 4430 to 4433.) "Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as sceuiid-elass matter." Copyrighted. 1010, by The Rcrord £ Guide Co. Vol. LXXXV. JANUARY 22, 1910. No. 21S4. THB Building Department has prepared recently a table of the projected buildings and their estimated cost of the old city of New York and the present borough of Manhattan from the year 1868 to the present time. A sim¬ ilar table has frequently been published in the Record and Guide, for 1S6S WAS THE YEAR IN WHICH THB RBAL ESTATE RECORD BEGAN PUBLICATION. The peculiar interest of this table just at present consists in the proof it affords of the exceptional record made by the year 1909 in the building history of the borough. Four times during the past forty-one years has the estimated cost of the pro,iected buildings reached a sum in excess of $120,000,000—1899, 1901, 1905 and 1909. The total in 1899 was $129,250,000; in 1901 it was $122,170,000; in 1905 it was $124,746,000; in 1909 it was $131,246,000, According to these totals the record of 1909 was better by about $2,000,000 than the best previous year, viz, 1S99. But in reality the difference between the figures for the two years, in so far as they stand for buildings constructed and not merely projected, is much larger than is indicated by the figures. The total for 1899 was swollen by the filing of an enormous number of plans in anticipation of the operation of the new Building Code, which became effective in that year, la the same way the large figures for 1901 represent not the actual current demand for new buildings, but a large number of plans, re¬ corded just before the new Tenement House Law went into effect. In both of these years the proportion of plans filed and never subsequently carried out, was exceptionally large, amounting if we remember aright, to at least 2 5 per cent, of those submitted to the Building Department inimediately before the new laws became effective. The consequence is that the totals for these two years, measured by the same standards as other years, sliould he reduced by anywhere from $15,000,000 to $20,000,000. The only year, conse¬ quently, in the past history of Manhattan, whose building record in any way compares to that oC 1909, is 1905; and the past year has an advantage of some $6,0 0 0,000 over its predecessor. The figures for 1909 are all the more remark¬ able when it is remembered that the vacant area in Manhat¬ tan has been constantly decreasing, and that, consequently, the new coustruction represents to a much larger extent the replacement of old with new and modern buildings. This fact is brought out very clearly by the increase in the average estimated cost of each building. Tn 1871 the average was about $14,000. In ISSl it had become $16,000. In 1S91 the building of more flats had made it $20,000, In 1901 $46,000 on the average was invested in each structure; aud this figure was not substantially increased in 1905. But in 1909 the average was no less than $132,000, three times as large as it was only four years before. What these figures mean, of course, is that the elevator apartment house, meas¬ uring, 100 X 100, has become THE NORMAL TYPE of resi¬ dence building in Manhattan and the twelve story fire-proof structure the normal type of business building. IT seems probable that the building record of 19(9 will, so far as the borough of Manhattan is concerned,, never be exceeded. In the future, of course, the whole city of New York will spend much larger sums on building than it did in 1909, hut there are reasons to believe that ]909 MAY REPRESENT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF MANHATTAN CONSTRUCTION. If anyone is disposed to question this prediction, let him consider carefully the building situation in the borough. Of the $131,000,000 which has been or will be spent on the buildings projected during the past year three-fifths will be spent upon apartment liouses. These houses bave almost all been built either on the West Side or on Washington Heights. Enormous inroads have been made upon the vacant land remaining in the horough, and while the supply of lots on Washington Heights will last for an¬ other five years, the number which will be improved every year will ^necessarily dimitfflth. Of course the DYCKMAN TRACT will remain; and the activity which is beginning in that section indicates clearly that building operations there¬ abouts will soon assume a vei'y considerable volume, but it is improbable that considering the amount of vacant land remaining, considering the enormous construction now un¬ derway to be inhabited and considering the increasing com¬ petition of "the other borotighs, apartment houses and tene¬ ments to the value of $75,000,000 wil! ever again be needed in one year in this borough. There is a possibility that the figures for the current year 1910, will be about as large; but we doubt it. Before the end of this year general business conditions will probably act as a check on building. As¬ suming, then, that hereafter the amount of money spent in Manhattan on tenements and apartments is likely to diminish, is it reasonable to expect that their place will be taken hy an increasing amount of construction for general business pur¬ poses? The Record and Guide does not believe that any such expectation is reasonable. There is room for a certain in¬ crease in the amount of money spent upon office and loft buildings. Ten years from now it may be fifty per cent, greater than it is at present, but even then it cannot take the place of the money which will not be spent upon tene¬ ments and apartment houses. As the price of business real estate and of rents augments in Manhattan an increasing proportion of business will necessarily be transacted in the other boroughs, and the only way in which this immigration of business can he prevented from assuming large propor¬ tions would be by the construction of freight subways. On the other hund, it is certain the average price of the new buildings erected in Manhattan will still further increase, in fact, within the next ten years it is prohable that prac¬ tically NOTHING BUT PIREPROOP STRUCTURES will be built on the island of Manhattan and that this result will be brought about not by law but by the operation of purely economic conditions. THE recent election in Boston of a professional politician to be Mayor of that city under She new charter has been frequently referred to as an indication that tbe new Boston Instrument of Government is by way of being a failure. Nothing could be more erroneous. How the new charter will actually worli is still a matter of prediction. Tt carries further than the charter of any other large Amer¬ ican city the principle of making the Mayor substantially responsible for the good goverment of the city. Indeed, his power is restricted only by a small council, elected on a general ticket, whose power is negative rather than posi¬ tive. That a professional politician with little or no inter¬ est in efficient and economical government should be elected to such an oflice is undoubtedly an unfortunate fact; but it is a fact that has been foreseen and provided against in the iievj Boston charter. There is no possible way of guarantee¬ ing by law either that the most desirable candidate will be elected to any office, or that the successful candidate, who¬ ever he may be, will prove to be a thoroughly admirable executive. What the law can do, however, is to see that an honest and efficient man, if elected, will have the, power to accomplish something for the good of the city, and that, on tlie other hand, a dishonest or an inefficient man cannot avoid full responsibility for his misbehavoir. That is pre¬ cisely what the new Boston charter does provide. The Mayor will have so much power and responsibility that he will have to make some use of it, good or bad. He cannot help betraying himself one way or another; and public opinion will soon make up its mind whether or not it is satisfied with his method of administration. In case it is dissatisfied it has a remedy. The term of the Mayor is four years, but in case he has proved himself to he incompetent to use the powers entrusted to him for the benefit of the city, a certain percentage of the voters can by petition at the end of two years challenge his right to continue to occupy the offlce. In that case a new election becomes necessary, and the Mayor has to defend his administration at the bar of public opinion. Just how well this device of the "recall" will work cannot as yet be tried in a sufficient number of instances Our real estate CONVEYANCES contain ALL information.