Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 88, no. 2265: August 12, 1911

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?^^^ ^p^^ 0^ Vol. LXXXVIII AUGUST 12, 1911 No. 2265 IN. THE FARTHEST CORNER OF MANHATTAN. The Dyckman Tract Has Been a Seat of Recurrent Lot Booms, Which Are Now Giving Way to Public Improvements and Private Building Enterprises. THROUGH a numlier of sales ihis week and last in the Dyckman sec¬ tion attention has again heen called to a part of Manhattan that for a good many years has seldom remained long out of puhJic notice. When the Dyckman tract is not furnishing diversion as the seat of a lot Ijoom, it is quite apt to produce a sensation in the way of some historic flnd. One would hardly expect to come upon unchanted monuments in the horou^h of Manhattan within a few minutes' ride of populous residence nelghhorhoods. Yet the Dyckman tract Is as primitive as any remote suburban corner of the city. Be¬ cause of its accessibility it is a place of golden prospects to real estate operators and because its soil has heen scarcely dis¬ turbed below the surface it is a fruitful fleld of exploration for prospectoi's after historic antiquities. Some of the most important recent discoveries of Indian remains have been made there. The chain of title hy wliich the tract has descended from Colonial times helps to explain why this quarter of Manhattan remained farm land, while elsewhere vil¬ lages grew up and were amalgamated with the expanding city. The first mcn- until lyuy, when the Dyckman heirs of¬ fered a part of the property at auction. The bidding was slow and the lots brought only a few hundred dollars apiece. Two other auction sales were held in 1S70, and a fourth during the fol¬ lowing year. At the time of the la.st sale the market was somewhat better, a few of the lots bringing as high as .f;2.0il() each. As fhis Tjart of the island possessed no transit facilities of any kind, there was no further activity until about lSi)l>, at which time transit expectations ran high. During the building of the subway a deal of trading took place, but no boom oc¬ curred unlil about 1004, when the rapid transit line was in operation. From then until now there lias been a more or let^s steady increase in value, couisled with in¬ termittent booms. However, until recently, there was almost no building activity. This is accounted for by the fact that the liigher land of Washington Heights was IDreferred by builders and all of their efforts were concentrated in the building up of that district. In the last few years several apartment houses have been crect- aljly with the good stores of the middle West Side. A cross-town trolley runs on :^07th street, from Broadway, over the Harlem River bridge, to the Bronx, and many of the residents of that borough are now coming to shop at these stores. As the district along the east bank of the Harlem is not very well supplied with good shops, it is likely that in time a con¬ siderable amount of Bronx business will come across the river, and this wil! un¬ doubtedly create in the future a shop¬ ping district around the 207th street sta¬ tion, which will be similar to the one at St, Nicholas avenue and ISlst street. This car line also affords an easy way for residents of the West Bronx to reach the subway, and quite a number of those whose business calls them downtown use this means nf travel. The rentals of 2.5-foot stores average ^1,.")II0 to $1,000 each. Apartments in walk-up houses rent for .$0 to ijlfi.riO a room. The Hensle Construction Com¬ pany, which has been the leading flrm of builders in the neighborhood, has recent¬ ly completed a row of six-story elevator houses on 207th street, between Post and CORNER OF RIVERSIDE DRIVE AND DYCKMAX STREET. A.\ OLD DYCKMAX HOMESTEAD, tion of a white man in connection with the ownership of the tract was recorded in 1640, when Tobias Teunissen, a Dutch squatter who had lived among the In¬ dians, claimed title to the north half of it. After his death at the hands of the Indians, two other Dutchmen, Jansen and Aertsen, acquired the entire tract, holding it from 1647 to 1677. In the latter yea.r, Jan Dyckman and Jan Nagel obtained title to the land and settled on it. The tract was divided into two farms, the dividing line being about where 211th street now is. In course of time the two families intermarried, and the entire property passed into the pos¬ session of the Dyckman family. The holdings of the members Of this family comprised at one time about 4fiO acres and, including a part of Fort George Hill, ran northward to Spuyten Duyvil Creek. The ridge along the Hud¬ son River was the western boundary; the Harlem River formed the easterly line. The original Dyckman and Nagel homes stood on either side of the boundary line and near the Harlem River. Dui-ing the Revolution, the British were encamped there and on the heights above Broad¬ way, Fort Tryon was built. After the war no change of ownership occurred ed and at the present time there are about seventeen such operations under way. Several radical and excellent im¬ provements have been piade in the last years, and apparently the time is about ripe for an e.xtensive building movement throughout the district. As was to be expected, the present de¬ velopments are taking place along the subway and near the various stations. The subway emerges from the ground on the northerly side of Fort George hill and from there on the line is an elevated road. The first station is at Dyckman street, which corresponds to 201st street. Around this station some houses have been built, but the principal activity is to be found at the next station, 207th street. This localUy seems destined to become the center of the Dyckman district. For several blocks on either side of the sta¬ tion. Tenth avenue, is quite solidly built up wilh flve-story walk-up apartments, and these houses are well tenanted. The ground floors of the buildings are taken up with large stores, averaging in size about 25X.S0 feet. Most of them arc rent¬ ed and the tenants are a good class ol merchants. There are several grocery and butcher shops that compare favor- Sherman avenues. These houses are well built and equipped, and contain apart¬ ments with suites of two to six rooms. Rents in the elevator hotises average about $7.50 a room. On Tenth avenue, near the station, in¬ side lots to-day are worth about $lo,OI)0 each and corners are held at over $20,- 000. A lot on Tenth avenue, between 206th and 207th streets, sold in 1004 for $1,100. Last year the price paid for it was i?12,G0O. The corner of Post avenue and 207th street, a plot 100x100, sold In 1800 Inr .'«4,{i00. It was resold in 190.5 for $4T,rj00, and is now held at $75,000. On 207th street the present price of lots is close to $10,000. A plot of six lots on this street was sold a few weeks ago at the rate of $0,000 a lot. In 100.5 the same plot brought $1,600 a lot. Along Tenth avenue the improvements of the future will probably take the form of flve-story apartments, but on the ad¬ joining streets to the west it is likely that a considerable number of elevator houses will appear. Some few houses have already been erected near the Dyck¬ man street station, and desirable 'ots in this vicinity are worth about $10,000 each A plot on Nagel avenue near the