Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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May 4, 1912 RECORD AND GUIDE 929 also mean a good deal for the shops and places of amusement in the vicinity ot 42d slreet. Of course the traffic devel¬ oped will be comparatively small until tile two ends of the tunnel are connected with otlier parts of the Boroughs of Man¬ hattan and Queens; but even so it will make Queens temporarily llie most ac¬ tual centre of real estate operations in the city. It is worth considering, liowever, whether the Public Service Commission has nol made a mistake in extending the Belmont Tunnel to Long Acre Sciuare instead of to Greeley Square or the Penn¬ sylvania Terminal. The latter route would have a num-ber of advantages over the former. Tn the first place the ex¬ tension to Long Acre Square would prac¬ tically duplicate the part of the present subway, which runs through 42d street. Passengers in the Belmont Tunnel who wanted to I'eacli the theatres and res¬ taurants near 42d street and Broadway, could do so by transferring to a 42d slreet train. OI course they would pre¬ fer to reach Long Acre Square witnoui any change, but it is a question whether they are entitled to this convenience, ars long as there is already provided a poor¬ er, but still fairly satisfactory metliod of reaching this particular destination. On the other hand the extension of the Bel¬ mont Tunnel lo G-reeley Square or tlie Pennsylvania Terminal would provide a connection which is intrinsically just as valuable, but which would not duplicate any existing means of transit, A diag¬ onal subway from 42d street and Park avenue to Seventh avenue and 33d street would constitute, both an extremely valu¬ able extension for the Belmont Tunnel, and a real addition to the transit sys¬ tem of Manhattan, particularly In view ot the fact that Mr. McAdoo has abandoned for an indefinite peiiod the construction of his extension to the Grand Central sta¬ tion. The proposed connection would probably develop more traffic than a con¬ nection with Long Acre Square. It would enable the passenger to reacli more con¬ veniently all the large department storer? and places of business on or near 34tli street; and it would develop in all prob¬ ability a good deal of local traffic be¬ tween the Grand Central Station and Herald iSquare, A diagonal subway has a similar value to a diagonal street. It creates an unusually large percentage of new business, because it opens up new means of communication and economizes time. Need of a Business Man's Hotel. Complaints are being frequently heard that New York is lacking in a satis¬ factory business man's liotel; that is, a hotel which contained a large number of sniall and moderate priced single rooms, and which was convenient to tiie wholesale retail and amusement districts. These complaints are justified. During the past ten years a persistent process ot specialization has taken place in the New York liotels, but the type of an essentially business man's hotel has not yet been de¬ veloped. In the meantime destiiiction has overtaken a large number of small hotels on Broadway and Fourth avenue, many of whicii were patronized chiefly by business men. In spite of the multi¬ plication of large and luxurious cara¬ vansaries in New York, the man who wants a small, convenient and moderate- priced room is probably worse offi than he has been for'many years. There is un¬ questionably a real need of this par¬ ticular kind of hotel accommodation. Last year a syndicate acquired some land on Seventh avenue and 35th slreet, os¬ tensibly for the purpose of erecting pre¬ cisely a business man's refuge, but no attempt has ever been made to carry the project out, except in the newspapers. The location was a good one, and it is a /Aty that the enterprise was or had to be abandoned. More promising are the rum¬ ors that the large railroad companies are interested in the idea of buildmg such a hotel. They would have an obvious in¬ terest in financing the project of build¬ ing a busmess man's hotel near their terminals. It is stated that the New York Central is reserving the site of the hospital on tlie corner of Lexington ave¬ nue and 42d street for the accommodation of its business patrons; and it is also hinted that the Pennsylvania R. R. Co, is considering a similar plan for a hotel over the private street which it has cut through from 33d to 34th streets, between Tth and Sth avenues. The first of these rumors is better authenticated than the second, but both may well be true. And if one of these companies tries to tempt traveling business men by economical and pleasant accommodaEioiis, it would look as if the other company would be obliged to follow suit. The Week in Real Estate. There were some signs this week of growing activity in the Manhattan mar¬ kel. The sales reported by brokers were rather more numerous than those of the preceding two weeks. Although there were few notably large transactions, there were several deals of more than average size in sections whicii have been inactive for some time. One such section was represented by the sale of tlie north¬ west corner of Hudson and Horatio streets. The site wil! be improved with a mercantile building. The midtown section continues to be the most active in the borough. An in¬ teresting sale was concerned with prop¬ erly in the residential district about Gra¬ mercy park. The Sage Foundation ac¬ quired three old dwellings next door lo the Princeton Club, on wliich to erect a building for its own tise. This is the first institutional building of its kind project¬ ed here, and it is no more than likely that other philanthropic organizations will look for sites in the vicinity. The Pennsylvania section contributed a sale at 115 to 125 West 30th street which foreshadows a new twelve-story building. The number of mercantile buildings in the course of construction along Fifth avenue was assured of further additions by the sale of the premises at 17 to 25 East 24th street and of the three old dwellings at 123 to 126 West 26th street. The section just north of 42d street, near Fifth avenue, produced two rather interesting transactions which go to show tlie steady expansion of this district for business purposes. A new five-story building is to be erected at S to 14 East 47tli street, whicii has been leased from the plans by a firm of well known archi¬ tects. The sale of 16 and IS West 4Gth street will be followed by the alteration of the premises for business purposes. It is rumored that the premises have been leased for a long lerm of years by the new owner. Several other sales were made in this vicinity, the most important of which was that of 36 West 56th street, Tliis property is to be used for business pui-poses. On tlie West Side several dwellings and aparlment houses changed ownership. The most important sales took place on 72d streel. The apartment house recent¬ ly constructed to meet the demand of five and six-rooni suites at 164 to 16S West 72d street was exchanged for a dwelling at 50 West TOth street and a country place at Cedarhurst, L, I. An¬ other flne dwelling at 172 Wesl T3d street was sold and will be altered for busi¬ ness purposes. Several property own¬ ers who sometime ago formed a sort of combination to hold out for good prices may be willing to dispose of their prop¬ erty now that business is starting to creep in between Broadway and Colum¬ bus avenue. The sale of the two apart¬ ment houses, the Monte Vista and the Aqua Vista, for whicii the buyer gave a Yonkers residence and a steam yacht, was the largest deal of the week, in¬ volving about S1,000,000. The other im- pprlant sale was that of 214S and 2150 Broadway, adjoining the southeast cor¬ ner of 76th street; the present buyer now controls a plot fronting 127 feet in Broad¬ way and 110 feet in T6th street. Both plots are occupied by garage buildings, and it is likely that the owner will hold them for some time as an investment. The Bronx furnished a fair volume of well distributed vacant plot sates. At the meeting of the Harbor Board this week, the general impression was left that the extension of the pier and bulkhead line of the Bronx River at Hunts Points would soon be brought aboul. The extension, if authorized, will result in tlie formation of a mercantile colony at Hunts Point simi¬ lar to the Bush Terminal in Brooldyn. The number of sales reported from Brooklyn were considerably below the re¬ cent weekly average. The most inter¬ esting transaction was the purchase of a plot at the northeast corner of Ocean avenue and Beverley road, wiiich will be improved with a modern apartmeni house. The other sales were well dis¬ tributed, with the Park slope, Bedford and Eastern parkway making the best showing. The building activity continued on the same scale in Queens as in the past week. An ever increasing number of home¬ seekers have given encouragement to tho builders to complete their work as quick¬ ly as possible. A new theatre is fore¬ shadowed by the purchase of 22 Main street. Flushing, and it is rumored that the adjoining property will be included in the site. Several other projects of this nature are intended for the north shore of Long Island, The cost of fireproof construction may be seriously increased, according to the hollow lile interests, if the proposed new building code is approved by the Board of* Aldermen. Henry M, Keasbey places the probable increase al about 20 per cent, for Kew York construction, and adds that the most serious aspect of the situation is that it directly affects the use of the smaller blocks for suburban home construction. The suburban buyer naturally will ask wiiether it is safe to build a residential or industrial structure of more than three stories of hollow tile. The provisions of the new code say "no." Construction experts and laboratory tests say "yes." It is therefore argued that the prospec¬ tive builder will be more inclined to lean lo the opinion of the framers of the build¬ ing code than to reports of tests and in¬ vestigations conducted by interested par¬ ties. Hence the highly nervous condition of the lioUow tile flreproofing market this week. Other departments developed strength¬ ening features. Hudson River common brick developed a fiimi tone, with a very heavy call from New Jersey interests. Prices changed from weak to strong at S6.75 top when it became known that ad¬ verse weather conditions had prevented manufacturers from reopening their plants. Karitans are moving strong into Newark and Brooklyn, and are bringing $6.50 top on the Exchange. The steel situation is strong, prices are rigid and are likely to remain so, for the preseni, at least. Lumber is easier, con¬ cessions being obtainable by buyers of rating on seconds in pine, spruce and some firsts on hardwoods and parquetry. These concessions are only lemporary, however, and are made to facilitate clearance of congestion at mills. Likelihood of an advance in the price of cement in the near future is more re¬ mote as the prospects of an early settle¬ ment of coal miners and railroad engi¬ neers' demands become clearer. Taken as a whole, the building material situation is stronger to-day than it has been at any time this year. Labor in the entire district is about TS per cent, employed, with bricklayers leading with 63 per cent, of lotal union membership engaged. The Buiiding Code Commission. Editor oi llic Record and Guide: My attention has been called to the statement [by H. M. Keasbey, vice-presi¬ dent of the National Fireprooflng Co.] printed in the Record and 'Guide of the 27th ult., in opposition to the terra cotta provisions of the proposed new building code. The quotation says: "It is evi¬ dent that the committee that drew the code is made up in such a way that an impartial treatment of fireprooflng could hardly have been expected," etc, and further on, "it certainly must be admitted they (the members of the commission) are not in a position to be entirely unbiased." As a member of the commission that drew up this code, I feel that a statement of this character unchallenged might ex¬ ert considerable influence and probably do much harm. To begin with, twenty-four members of the commission and advisors out of a total of tliirty-llirce are gentlemen whose only interest in building matters is pro¬ fessional. A statement that they were not impartial in connection wilh tiiis code is not only not in accordance with facts, but reflects severely on the motive of the critic for the reason that it imputes to the seventeen practising archilects and the seventeen practicing architects and engineers, independent of the representa¬ tives of the Building Trades Employers Association an inability to detei'mine what is a fair treatment or what is necessary for a proper material of construction and if a set of reputable professional men can¬ not be trusted in a matter of this kind, no one else can. The requirements of this code with ref¬ erence to flreprooflng are identical with the requirements of any first-class archi¬ tectural or engineering office at the pres¬ ent time and to insist upon the matter becoming a law was only lo insist that our