Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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118 RECORD AND GUIDE January 27, 1917 |j»,REAL ESTATE g^ BUILDERS Industrial Commissionership. ^ •— -- missionership up to the present time has Devoted to Real Estate , i j- , ,,,,,, BuUdinaConstructlonandBuildinfiManagement '^«'-"" handicapped greatly by the lack of in the Metropolitan District a member who has practical knowledge Found<:dMarch2i.iS68. by CLINTON w. SWEET "f building Construction, safety to life Published Every Saturday problems, and other technical and engi- By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO. ll!:?or?.^ir'u'"^r ' constantly come belore it. With me.xpcrienccd persons F. T. MILLER, Prraident promulgating orders lor improvements w. c. STUART, vicc-Prcj'i t General Manacer )n buildings and no Competent appellate J. w. FRANK, Secretary A Treasurer jurisdiction, tactory ovviicrs, for more 119 West 40tli Street, New York than two years have sullered untold an- (Teiepbone. 4S00 Bryani.) iioyaucc and large cxpeiise without at- ,7-------—--------------------------------------------------- taming proportionate safety for the Entered at the Post Office at Kew Tork, A". T.. as workers ^ second-class matter.'* ,^, /. ... , . r --------------------------------------------------------------- ine Commission has also before it at Cojyriciit. 1916. by Tlie Record and Guide Co. the present time a great deal of con- structive technical work in the prepara- TABLE OF CONTENTS ' 'i°" o* codes for regulating the opera- —^_„ tion of dangerous machinery, mines and (SECTION O.VB) quarries, artificial light, dangerous Problem of Housing Industrial -n'orkers, trades, wood alcohol and Other poisons Part Three; Lawrence Veiller........... Ill used in the trades, aisles in factories and Legal Xotes Affecting Realty.............. 112 steam boilers. In the past such codes Digests ot Recent Legislation.............. 113 have been drafted by committees com- Measures Affecting Real Estate............ 114 posed of representatives 'from operating Coal Situation ........................... 114 and manufacturing concerns, and by this Difficulties ill Getting Mechanic's Liens; J. method special interests have unavoid- wT?\ r 'k ;•■:.....;■;;....."' ^bly obtamed favoritism. It takes time Service to be Given by Janitor: Catherine ♦„ a:.___ i i j , i Shields and Clare R. NelsoA. .. . 116 *° discover such evils, and much harm Editorials ............................118 '^ likely to result before they can be Query Department.....'...!....'..'.!..'.!!!.' 119 corrected. With a high grade, experi- Real Estate Review.................. ! " fO "^"ced technical man on the Commission, Bronx Board of Trade Luncheon.......... 1^1 '""ch more desirable methods of pro- Building Trade Employers' Association Din- " "dure m preparing such codes, could be ner ....................................122 followed. Xew Provision Plant for Harlem.......... 132 i" case of a disaster like the Triangle -------- Waist Company, or the Diamond Candy Building Material Market................. 131 Factory, which is liable to occur again Classified Buyers' Guide...........■....... 142' ^"y day, it would be a tower of strength Current Building Operations.............. 131 - to the Commission and the Administra- Departmental Rulings..................... 141 tion to have a man thoroughly familiar Leases ................................... jog with safety lo life problems, on the .Xew and Useful Appliances................ II7 Commission. Personal and Trade Notes................. I34 =^ Private Sales ot the Week................. 122 Downtown Office Renting. Real Estate Xotes................... 1.30 t-i - 1 , t^ • , . Statistical Table ot the Week..........!!!! 130 ^''^ announcement that the Equitable Trade and Technical Society Events....... 141 Building, through the consummation of Wholesale Material Market................ 1.32 another lease, is now filled, at a rental ■ aggregating approximately $3,000,000 a APPELLATE DI'VISION OF THE -'^^''.' '^ ^" interesting commentary on SUPREME COURT renting conditions in office buildings in A* ., I ,_ r 4.1. A II T^- • ■ "^'is downtown section. The building has At a term of the Appellate Division of 1,227,000 square feet of rentable space, the Supreme Court held in and for the which has been absorbed within very First Judicial Department, in the County lecent times by desirable classes of ten- of New York, on the 19th day of De- f"'^' ^°,'"'^ ?^ '^^ '^''S^'' ^^^^^^ having , iQifi htew taken for long term.s. cemoer, lyio. jj j^ difficult to reconcile the recent Present: Hons. John Proctor Clarke, sales at foreclosure of several of New P. J.; Chester B. McLaughlin, Frank C. ^'ork City's well known skyscrapers with Laughhn, Francis M. Scott Victor t' ''''^ excellent conditions now prevailing n^,„i;„r^ \x7.,ii. Tl JO -^il A,e „ d.' '" many other buildings of similar type Dowling, 'Walter Lloyd Smith, Alfred R. i„ the immediate neighborhood. Invesr Page and Vernon M. Davis, J.J. ligation would probably show that the In the matter of the designation of more modern types of structures have newspapers required by Rule 86 of the ^'^^" successful, and those buildings General Rules of Practice. ''i'"'' ''°"'^'" large areas of unoccupied _, . ._ . othce space may attribute the vacancies lhe Appellate iDvision of the Supreme to the failure on the part of the owners Court in the First Department hereby 1° respond to the demand for the modern designates the following newspaper as ^"^ up-to-date quarters to which present having a circulation calculated to give '^^■' P-'og'-'^fi^'e business men have be- ... . t , , ""»i-<:u LO give come accustomed. public notice of legal publications as re- The increase in the cost of m.anaging quired by the provisions of Rule 86 of the the building, the advance in the cost of General Rules of Practice as amended '^03.\, of labor, of supplies and equipment to take effect December 19 1916 ' '"•''y ''^ve been responsible to a degree RFrnpn AMr> riTrriW ui- t. j toward the inability of these buildings to KliCUKD AND GUIDE, published meet their obligations, and their incapa- in the County of New York. city to yield a reasonable return on the A Copy. investment. ATTTtjun \xr A r^oT^ A T^T. ^, ■ The demonstrated success of the new- ALl-RED WAGSTAFF, Clerk. er types of buildings which have been -------- erected, carry a striking message to the I, ALFRED -WAGSTAFF, Clerk of °"'"^.'', °i ,"?^ ,°'.1^,r structure who has the Appellate Division of the Supreme Pf^rinitted his building to fall behind in Court in the First Judicial Department, t'le procession. , ,. ^ do hereby certify that the foregoing is a ^''"^ '^ another phase of the down- copy of the order made by said court f°"'" /^"""^ 'ionditions which w;ill not upon the appeal in the above entitled ac- Y ^^V^^}-^^ '"">' ""t'l 'he new Zoning tion or proceeding, and entered in my ^^,?' r^ ?". complete operation. Owners office on the 19th day of December 1916 ^^■''' ^"'^ it difficult to erect structures and that the original case or papers upon ''?"=*' '? ''^'g'^' *° ^^iV"^ °f ^hose com- which said appeal was heard are here- P'etca '" the past. There only can be unto annexed. isolated cases where the really tall sky¬ scraper can be built, provided the law IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have as it stands upon the statute books is hereunto set my hand and affixed the not declared unconstitutional. Even in seal of said Court, in the County of New those cases more ground area than in York, this 19th day of December, 1916. the past will be required if economic re- (Signed) ALFRED WAGSTAFF, Clerk. turns are desired. This condition, as has been pointed out frequently in the Rec¬ ord and Guide, should give those build¬ ings now standing somewhat of a pref¬ erence until such time comes, when ten¬ ants are willing to rent space over a more extended area. Congestion has been the greatest prob¬ lem to be faced. The time will come again as it came in the past when ten¬ ants will see the advisability of pulling down the bars and renting space in build¬ ings located in streets adjacent to those now in special favor. The effect of this move will be a readjustment of rentals over a larger area and the bugbear "in¬ convenience," which is now thought in¬ surmountable, will autoir.atically be overcome. The principle of one street being in fa¬ vor, to the detriment of those which are nearby, is unsound. Realty has suffered m the past from this condition, because excessive rentals have been demanded in some structures, while others have been untenanted, or else leased for sums out of all proportion to their true worth. To obtain the best results for the greatest number, equalization of rentals must take place, and that means equalization of property values. It is not to be understood that it is meant that all properties will have the same value but their worth will be on a m.ore uniform basis. Speculation and Investment. "If people get fleeced, the fault lies either with their ow^ get-rich quick greed in buying highly speculative or unsound securities; with going into the market beyond their depth; with exercis¬ ing poor judgment as to the time of buy¬ ing and selling, or finally with the wiles of outside promoters or unscrupulous financiers," declared Otto H. Kahn this week. While his remarks were directed primarily toward the more or less unfor¬ tunate "lamb," whose savings are swept away with every fluctuation in the stock market, they may also be applied to real estate. There is no more justification for any calamity howling from some people who have lost money in real estate than there IS for complaints from uninformed spec¬ ulators who have lost in Wall street. For some reason people do not like to take losses on real estate. In the final analy¬ sis, speculation in second or third mort¬ gages, or the purchasing of heavily en¬ cumbered real estate, is closely allied with buying stocks on margin. In Wall street it is designated by the name of speculation, yet in real estate it is dig¬ nified as "investing." One of the greatest difficulties with which real investors in real estate have had to contend has been this lack of dis¬ crimination between investment and speculation. While the speculator in real estate has his function, his influence can in no way be compared to the im¬ portance of the buyer for investment. The real test of a strong market is not in the hysterical boom of the speculator, but the steady conservative buying of the investor. . When Mr. Kahn says that people are fleeced "either with their own get-rich-quick greed or with going into the market beyond their depth, or exer¬ cising poor judgment as to the time of buying and selling," he was talking to the real estate as well as to the Wall street gambler. Railroad Congestion. i^ailroad presidents hold forth no hope of relief from transportation congestion until the close of the European war. Al¬ fred H. Smith, president of the New York Central Railroad, in analyzing the reasons for this situation points out the unusual difficulties under which the rail¬ road systems have been operating. The foreign trade of the United States has increased from $4,000,000,000 at the beginning of the war to $8,000,000,000, and domestic trade has increased from about $30,000,000,000 to $46,000,000,000. In addition to this enormous trade, there has developed a great internal industrial situation in manufacture and commerce to provide these supplies. The abnormal