Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 32, no. 812: October 6, 1883

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October 6, 1888 The Record and Guide. 755 THE RECORD AND GUIDE. 191 Broadway, N. Y". TERMS: ONE ¥EAR, in advance, SIX DOLLARS. Communications should be addressed to 0. W, SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. OCTOBER 6, 188S. Although Wall street has been depressed during the past week, there are some signs of encouragement in the bueiuees situation. Our merchants all report an active trade at advancing prices. The short cotton crop has enhanced prices at a time when the country was bare of staple goods. Exchange is low, and gold will come provided we ship grain more freely, which we must do before the close of the year. An influx of gold would help stocks, tempora¬ rily at least. -—- ■- •----------------------------------------- L The committee to organize a Real Estate Exchange are still a work at that problem. Frequent meetings are held, but the ques tion of site is not yet determined. It is feh by those interested that a committee composed of the leading real estate dealers of New York could not afford to make a mistake on so important a matter. Pine street will have to be abandoned after next May, and the point in dispute is what neighborhood down town is best suited for a real estate headquarter? However, a decision must aoon be arrived at. That matter settled satisfactorily, there will be no further difficulty in tbe way of a prompt organization of the exchange. ■—■---------------------------------------•-------------------------------------------------------■ The Ohio election which takes place next week may have import¬ ant consequences. Should the Republicans succeed in carrying the State, it would infuse new life into that party, and encourage it to contest the presidential election with great spirit. President Arthur would almost inevitably be its candidate to succeed himself The liquor question would also in that event become an issue in this State. High license has proved so profitable to State and city treasuries at the West, that legislative candidates will be forced to declare for or against it at the November election. Then there are those who think that a Democratic defeat will help stocks in Wall street. A few days will tell the story. --------•-------- The Grand Jury was quite right in condemning the want of sys¬ tem and responsibility in the various departments of the city gov¬ ernment. The robberies which have recently Ciome to light erapha- sises the public demand for municipal civil service reform, [Politi. cians of both parties have bitterly opposed any change, but the reve¬ lations of fraud in the Controller's and Public Works Departments shows the necessity of a thorough reorganization and greater re¬ sponsibility and checks which will insure an honest keeping of the city's books. We will yet come to some such system as that origi¬ nally recommended by The Record and Guide, The taxpayers must be organized and charged with the duty of overseeing and reporting upon the way the city's accounts are kept. Every bill that is paid at the Controller's office should he investigated, to see whether an equivalent is received for the money paid out. Then, and not till then, will we have any assurance that all the"payments made to the city treasury are honestly expended, Why should not the Pennsylvania Central secure possession of the West Shore & Buffalo Road ? The two systems connect on the Jersey shore, and with the West Shore in its possession Philadel¬ phia would have an independent connection, that is, apart from New York, with all the region nortb and east of the city. The Pennsylvania could then compete with the Erie and Delaware & Hudson roads for the coal trade of New England, ae it could use the Highland Bridge, at Cornwall, which is about to be constructed over the Hudson River. The New York Central has interfered with the Pennsylvania Central by forming an alliance with the Reading Road, so as ultimately to compete for the coal trade now pfionopolized by the Pennsylvania Road. Should the Vanderbilt's threaten a war of rates, the possession of a splendidly built road pompeting at every point with the New York Central in this State ^will give the Pennsylvania Central a great advantage. Can it be that the recent rise in^the AV est Shore & Buffalo bonds is due to the fact that negotialions to this effect are taking place ? Can this have been the reason why Mr. Vanderbilt retired from tbe presi¬ dency of the trunk lines heretofore connected with his name, and that Chauncey M. Depew is apprejiensive of a panic because the Central hereafter bas to make publig jts accounts, whicjti may show p heavy faliing;off.JBi its businegg ? High Priced Real Estate in New York Compared with London. The tendency to higher values at the lower end of this island has often been noted in these columns. Business is steadily concen¬ trating in the region surrounding and below the City Hall Park. The Stock Exchange has been the natural centre of the highest priced realty, but what may be regarded a secondary centre has been created by the construction of the new Produce Exchange; for in conjunction with that massive pile, there has been erected the Welles and field buildings and other structures far superior to those they have replaced. Itis not impossible that the new Real Estate Exchange may choose a site somewhere on lower Broadway, all of which will help of course to enhance the value of realty at the lower point of Manhattan Island. By the close of this century Bowhng Green will be surrounded by noble buildings, and all the property that fronts on the Battery will command prices that would now seem fabulous. The question is often asked how does the price of New York realty compare with the best business property in London V It I'i some¬ what difficult to draw a parallel, for the reason that leasehold prop¬ erty is the rule in London while it is the exception in New York; ground rent in London, however, is usually sold at from twenty- five to twenty-eight years purchase; thus it is known that lease¬ holds bringabout £1,000 for S,000 superficial square feet (10 shillings per foot), and ground rents of £300 to £400 per 50 feet frontage are not uncommon. The old Post office site, upon which is now heing erected the Mutual Union building, cost only $32.50 per square foot, or about half the price of choice London business property, but this was bought at a very low rate and other realty in the vicinity much less eligible brought very much higher prices. In May, 1883, the building No. 150 Broadway sold at the rate of $115 per square foot. Keeping in mind that the best London property cost less than $03 per square foot the follow¬ ing table, for which we are indebted to Mr. H. H. Cammann, is very significant: No. of Price per Location, Date Sold. Purchaser. sq, feet. Cost, aq, foot. ^'Broa^dsts,.*..*,". April, 1882,.,. M.Wilkes........ 508 5168,000 8330.70 Wall and New sts.. Mayl, 1883.,, W. W, Smitli...... 1,525 210,000 157.37 Bro^a'dway^'^.^.*!',. MaySl. lfiS2.. W'msbe.Fireln.Co S.070 350,000 115.00 No 12 Wallet...... Nov. 1. I8fi2.,, T. H. Delane...... 3,085 80O.0C0 111,31 Nos. 8 and 10 Wall Ht, Jan. a;i, 1881.. J, J. Astor........ 5,709 600,000 87.58 ^Nas^sauB^ts^.".'! .*".'! July 31, ISSU.. Ger, Life Ins. Co. 5,494 402,000 84,18 No.l9NaEBau8l..... May 10, 1882.. Julia F, Ludlow,,. 3,050 I'O.OOO 82,93 No.lIBroadet...... March 11, 1881 D, 0, Milts........ 2,186 200,000 80,44 ^3t,'aDd55Eicb°pl, April 37, 1881.. D.O.Mills........ 8,655 037,500 78.G5 ^andis'^^oad^ts.'^ May3.1883... D. O. Milla........ 6.622 625.000 72.48 No.9rioeEt........ March 17, 1S8! J. J. Astor........ 1,753 100,000 57.07 ^ andTichaSP*^ Jan., 1883..... J. J. Astor........ 19,115 1,000.000 53,81 These figures show a large advance upon the London average rate, but then they include the buildings as well as the ground. Still tbe high price was not given for the houses but because the sites were supposed to have great prospective value. Indeed several of the properties in the above table are either now being improved or will be in the next three years as witness the striking building now being erected at the northeast corner Broadway and Liberty street. The Astor's expect to improve their down-town really next spring. --------•-------- Prices Again. To show the shrinkage in prices which has been taking place throughout the civilized world since 1873, when silverwas demone¬ tized by the action of Germany and the United States, we give at the close of this article the table on this subject prepared by Heniy Hucks Gibbs, late President of the Bank of England. It wiil be noted that prices in 1882-3 are very much lower than they were in 1874, and that the decline has been continuous. To make the table intelligent to our readers we have calculated the English figures in American money. We have also taken the liberty of putting in the New York City daily papers. Our esteemed daily contemporaries may be rather surprised at the insertion, but they may rest assured that the same general cause has forced a reduction in their selling price that has been operative all over the commercial world in steadily lowering values. Prices are now measured in one precioua metal instead of two, as before 1873, and this change, occurring at a time when tbe production of gold haa greatly diminished, haa proved and is proving a cause of enormous disturbance in the business world, which haa resulted and will continue to result in widespread liquidation, which, of course, involves the ruin of tens of thousands of those engaged in trade, and the driving out of business of vast numbers of dealers. If the adoption of the gold unit of value for the double standard is not the cause of the shrinkage, as shown by the following table, it ia for political economists and financiers to suggest some more plausible theory. That the gold unit theory is the true one is maintained by Mr. Goschen, Mr. Gibbs, Mr, Grenfell of EnglaJid, M, Lavaleye Oj Belgium, Hery ArmAf, of (Serinany, b;j' U,