Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 93, no. 2413: Articles]: June 13, 1914

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June 13, 1914 RECORD AND GUIDE 1077 ciated greatly. The Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks, rector of St. Bartholomew's, felt some time ago that it would be advis¬ able for the vestry to sell its property at the market price. The money ob¬ tained for this site would in a large measure provide funds for the purchase of a new site and the erection of a group of new buildings. It was thought that there might even be a monetary balance to use as the nucleus of an en¬ dowment fund. When the opportunity to take over the Schaefer property was presented to the members of the vestry they quickly availed themselves of it, inasmuch as the new site is almost in the exact center of the present parish limits. A Historic Organization. St Bartholomew's is one of the city's pldest and best known Episcopal churches. It was established in Broome street in 1835. Since the removal to the present site, at Madison avenue and 44th street, the work of the parish has greatly increased until the past year, when the budget called for an expend¬ iture of over $250,000 to be used for the maintenance of its schools, missions and branch chapels and the extension of its social work. This social work in its parish alone directly reaches approx¬ imately 10,000 people. Many of the works of art now stand¬ ing in the old building will be incorpo¬ rated and erected in the new scheme. The beautiful bronze doors, the gift of Mrs. Vanderbilt as a memorial to her husband, the late Cornelius Vanderbilt, will be reset in the new building. These doors, architecturally and for the beauty of their workmanship, are the equal, if not superior, of any of their kind in the city. The painting over the altar, "Christ in Glory," which was painted many years ago by Lathrop, and which has been admired by all who visit St. Bartholomew's, will undoubtedly be re- hung. Statuary and tablets, the memo¬ rials of St. Bartholomew's prominent parishioners, will be reset in the new building. There is no doubt that the selection of the new site will result in greatly widening the field of parish work and will enrich the city by the addition of a group of buildings which will compare favorably in architectural beauty with the best and newest of their kind, namely, St. Thomas's, Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Chapel of the Intercession. Small Decrease in May Building. Reports to Bradstreet's Journal from 137 cities of the United States show total building expenditures of $76,338,- 749 for the month of May, as compared with $74,748,875 during April and $80,- 776,267 in May a year ago. There is here indicated an increase of 2.1 per cent, over April, but a decrease of 5.4 per cent, frpm May, 1913, with 77 cities shpwing decreases and 60 shpwing in¬ creases as cpmpared with the latter month. New _Yprk Citv shows something like a turn in the tide, reporting, as it does, the first increase in expenditure over the same month a year agp repprted for the last IS months. In this city (four out of five boroughs reporting) the ex¬ penditures in May were $15,809,427, or about one-fifth of the entire country's total—a gain over April of 9.2 per cent., and an increase over May last year of 15.4 per cent. The Tower Building Was Sound. The investigation made by the Bureau of Buildings when the Tower Building, at SO Brpadway, was in prpcess of de¬ molition resulted in disclosing no uri- usuaL feature. No instance of corrosion of metal sufficient to impair the strength of the building was uncovered, but there was the usual formation of rust .between contact surfaces, extra probability of corrosion near the ends of beams rest¬ ing on brick or stpne work, and o.f im¬ properly cleaned iron under the paint, and the excellent protection afforded by cement mortar in close contact with the metal. As Unseed oil paint in contact with cement becomes dry and incohesive, it is ' considered immaterial, by Superin¬ tendent Miller whether steel thprpughly incased in cement mortar or concrete is painted or not. The building, which was about 1S9J4 feet deep and from 21^ to 39^ feet wide, had cast iron columns. The floor beams and girders were wrought iron I-beams with bolted field connections, and although the outer walls of the lower five stories were supported on wall beams at each floor, the floor beams in the upper five stories were wall bearing, thus making the building conforin only partly to the cage type of construction. The foundations were double rows of wooden piles driven to hardpan. The flat side-bearing terra cotta floor arches were sprung between the webs of floor beams 45^ feet apart, and did not incase their lower flanges. The building was erected in 1889 from plans by Bradford L. Gilbert. Our Modern Frontiers. In the history of every city the prin¬ cipal area of activity for original build¬ ing operations is always on the out¬ skirts of that city. Year after year the demarcation between city and country is steadily advanced, as tracts of land are opened to intensive improvement by builders. Every year the building con¬ tractor and mechanic seeking this new work must go farther afield to find it. Thirty years ago there were three dis¬ tinct movements in speculative real es¬ tate on Manhattan Island. One was centered on the West Side, near 72d street, one was in the Yorkville sec¬ tion of the East Side, and the third principal field of operations was in old Harlem, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, 126th and 133d streets. These were the frontiers of that era.' In each of these movements a different class of construction was in hand, and the pro¬ jects in each were conceived and car¬ ried forward mainly by operators and builders of the immediate locality. Landing places for brick and other ma¬ terials of construction were close by in most cases, and the job was not far from the shop. But now the seats of original building operations are riumerous and are miles away from the center of the city. With¬ in the decade our brick builders have finished with Washington Heights for the time being and have reached the Inwood section. Soon there will be no frontier left for Manhattan. In other boroughs the seats of original building development have followed the lines of rapid transit until in some directions they have reached the city line. Were it not for a following wave of improve¬ ment real estate developers in central sections would be left with nothing to dp. Every succeeding generation, how¬ ever, sees a new building campaign ad¬ vancing over old ground. Dr. Paterno Selects Architect. Gaetan Ajello, of 1 West 34th street, has been commissioned by Dr. Charles V. Paterno, president of the Paterno Construction Company, to design plans and specificatipns fpr the imprpvement pf his recently purchased plpt at the nprthwest cprner pf Brpadway and 84th street with a fpurteen-stpry apartment hpuse pf the highest type. The site cpmprises about six city Ipts, having di- mensipns of 102.5x133.5x140.7x102.2 feet. The Ajello System of reinforced con¬ crete floor construction is to be employ¬ ed in this building for which The Build¬ ing Improvement Co. (Burchartz Amer¬ ican Floor Systems), of 17 Battery place, recently contracted with Mr. Ajello fpr_ his patents. ' On accpunt pf the adoptipn pf this system which re¬ duces the floor thickness a saving of four feet over the total height of the building is effected which is to be util¬ ized in. the height of the first story stores on the Broadway side. It will be recalled that Dr. Paterno recently sold to Benjamin N. Duke, the tobacco manufacturer, his twelve-story apart¬ ment house at the sputhwest cprner pf Seventh avenue and SSth street, pn plpt 100x100 feet. The building which was held at $1,300,000, was cpmpleted last autumn, frpin plans by Mr. Ajello, and has a total rent, roll.of about $125,000 a yiear.- -.• - - Hotel McAlpin Annex. Announcement has been made that an addition to the Hptel McAlpin, pn the sputheast cprner pf Brpadway and 34th street, will be erected pn the prpp- erty adjpining the hotel on the east which was recently acquired by the Hotel Company. The site takes in numbers 46 and 48 East 34th street, which was part of the Floyd estate. It is proposed to erect an addition which will contain two hundred additional bed rooms as well as extra public space. No plans have been prepared as yet and the full details have not been de¬ cided upon, except for the fact that the addition will harmonize with the original building and in fact become an integral part of it. The building is owned by the Greeley Square Hotel Company, Chas. A. B. Pratt, president, and operated by Merry and Boomer, pro¬ prietors. New Trinity Chapel Seems Assured. Announcement will no doubt soon be made regarding a new house of worship for the cono-regation of Trinity Chapel, which has been located for many years in West 2Sth street, near Broadway, through to 26th street. It is said that several available sites are under consid¬ eration and that one on upper Park ave¬ nue, near the nineties, is favored. The matter is in the hands of the Rev. John Mockridge, as vicar, and the Rev. Dr. William T. Manning, rector of Trinity parish. The matter of abandoning the old structure has been under contem¬ plation for some time, owing to the en¬ croachment of loft buildings surround¬ ing it. Nothing definite, however, has yet been decided. Building for Brooks Brothers. General contract was awarded this week without competition to Irons & Todd, 101 Park avenue, for the erection of a ten-story. loft and store building at the northwest corner of Madison avenue and 44th street. The building will have a granite base with super¬ structure of brick, limestone and terra¬ cotta and will cover a plot 80 by 128 feet. Plans are being prepared by La Farge & Morris, 101 Park avenue, and Clinton & Russell, 32 Nassau street, as¬ sociated architects, for William Ever¬ dell, Jr., and William H. Brown. The building will be occupied by Brooks Bros., men's clothing, who have leased the property for a long term of years. Two New Country Houses. Guy Lowell, architect, 225 Fifth ave¬ nue, has been retained by C. K. G. Bill¬ ings, 42d Street Building, to prepare plans and specifications for a residence to be erected at Oyster Bay, L. I. An¬ other fine residence cpntemplated is the one to be erected in the Wheatley Hills section at Wppdbury, fpr Ottp H. Kahn, banker, 52 William street. Plans fpr this hpuse are being prepared by De- lanp & Aldrich, architects, 4 East 39th street. The erectipn of these houses will be decided additions to the colony of fine country houses on the north shore of Long Island. New Home for John T. Pratt. Charles A. Platt, architect, 11 East 24th street, has been retained to prepare plans and specifications for a new residence to be. erected at 7-9 East 61st street for John T. Pratt, law¬ yer, 43 Exchange place. The house will be built of brick and Indiana Hmestone, and will be fireproof. It will probably be five stories in height. Some years ago Mr. Platt designed and superin¬ tended the erection of Mr. Pratt's coun¬ try house at Dosoris, the Pratt estate at Glen Cove, L. I., which is one of the largest and finest pf the many beautiful cpuntry houses in this section. Richmond Hill Lodge To Build. Richmond Hill Lodge, No. 892, F. & A. M., is preparing to build a Masonic hall and is seeking preliminary sketches and plans. Architects and others in¬ terested can secure full particulars at once by addressing L. Howard Moss, M. D., corner Brandon and Stoothoff avenues, Richmond Hill, Long Island. Thomas Coates, 32Q Spryce street,- is master of the lodge,