Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 44, no. 1114: July 20, 1889

Text version:

What does Mr. Elswoi-th mean by saying that The Record akd Guide has uot stated the true consideratiou paid for the jiroperty by the preseut owner ? Does he mean to impeach the veracity of the certificate filed iu the Register's offlce by tbe gentleman who sold the property ? And is he wOling to prove that S35,000 and not SS22,000 was paid for the smaller .parcel? That is what The Record and Guide said, and it stated the facts, obtiiiued from the most reliable sources. The Record and Guide offers its columns to Mr. Elswoi-th to disprove these facts, if he thinks he can. As to the cost of the improvement no definite information can be obtained. Tbe plan filed officially stated $8,000, the architect said $25,000, aud The Record and Guide allowed even as wide a margin as $100,000, au outside if not excessive figure, thus bringing the cost to the owner up to $182,000, which is $183,000 less than the valuation placed upon it by oue of tbe appraisers for the bank and $'218,000 less than another appraiser's valuation. Who are the three gentlemen who appraised this property at S36.i,000, S:;OO,O0O and $400,000 'i There are at least two or tbree thousand people in New York City who would like to know how they arrived at this valuation on a five-story building covering a space of less than one and three-quarters of a lot ? Tbe Poughkeepsie Eagle also has the following: In an interview ou Monday, Mr. Edward Elswortb said that Mr, D, C, Foster, tbe president of tbe savings bank, had received a letter from the State bank superintendent inclosing the ai-ticlein The Guide, and asking f or an explanation. " I dictated the answer to the State superinteudent," said Mr. Elswortb, "and it was in the main tbe statement that I have already made in print above, and I think we ii'ill hear no more about tbe matter. After The Guide article appeared we got the appraiser, Mr. Ward, of New York to go over the property in question again, and he made a most thorough examination, and said afterwards that be had uo reason for changing the figures he had already given us." In contradiction to this a well-kuoivn lawyer of tbis city said toau Eaffle representative that a Brooklyn gentleman said in the preseuce of witnesses, that a well-kaown broker's clerk in New York was paid SOOO for securing the loan from the savings bank, and that he did not secure it until he had " shinned" all over New York and Brooklyn, endeavoring to get it there, A thorough investigation of the whole matter should be made. That much is due" the savings bank. Now, if tbe property is worth anywhere between S3G5,000 and $400,000, does any one suppose, with the plethora of money in the New York insti¬ tutions, that it would have been necessary to go to Poughkeepsie to place the mortgage? If its real value is $365,000 we can name a dozen savings banks and a score of other institutions who would gladly have loaned $182,500 on the property. But it does not appear that any one of the New York instil utious applied to were wiUing to risk $182,500 on it. The only argument ou the other side is that on the present basis of rentals the property \vill yield a gross income of $40,000 per annum; so Mr. Pettit says, as well as Mr. Elswortb, The Record and Guide has ve'-y little to say about this, Mr. Pettit is a shrewd buyer and a very capable man- ao-er. He has planned the properfcy so tbat it may rent to advantage, aud it is not unlikely that he will get a much larger rental out of it than many other owners would have obtained. At preseut tbe building is only about half rented, and no. doubt it will gradually fill up witb tenants, as it is attractive to the eye inside and well managed. But until tbe full rent roll is secured it would be a risky thing for any man to say that the forty-seven of&ces and two stores in tbe building will rent for within about $5,000 of the rental obtained from the forty-three offices and the auction room of tbe Real Estate Exch a age, the rental from which is $45,219. In the one case the property covers 4,2~7|^ square feet and in the other case the ground covered is 7,yOSt.lO square feet, being 3,032.4 square feet more, not to speak of the superiority of tbe Exchange location. An effort was made to get at tbe rentals of the Pettit building. The top floor, the writer was told, rents for 5^4,550. The rents of the other three floors could not be ascertained, but they were stated to be a little higher than the other floors. Allowing $5,000 per floor, on an average, for eacb of the four offlce floors, a total of $20,000 would be obtained. Tbe stcres are laid out very judiciously, the corner one being divided into seventeen com¬ partments, the total rentals of which are placed at $13,300, while for the other store §3,000 is said to have been refused. It is doubtful if the cor¬ ner will bring $10,000 more than the inside store, but if it brings $13,000 gross, the otherrenting at $3,000, it would make tbe total rental, provided there was no vacancy in the buildiug, about $36,000. These are some¬ where near the figures of the agent; they are not ours. It is very doubt¬ ful if the gross rent roll will prove to be as high. But presuming Mr. Pettit should be lucky enough to get that figure, it is not by any means a fixed rule among real estate experts that tbe gross face rental shall deter¬ mine the valuation. For the purpose of comparison !et us take tbe five-story stone front build¬ ing purchased by Wm. H, Naething at No, 33 Cortlandt street, tbe deed for which was passed in June last year. It is 24.7x12.1.7x23.3x12.5.8 in size, or 2,y41.8 square feet. It sold for $75,000, equal to $25,75 per square foot. Now this property is several blocks nearer Broadway and iu a better location than the Pettit building. At the same rate 4,377,6 square feet, the area of tbe latter structure, would give us a total of S110,14.i. Let us add 50 per cent, on to that sum, iu consideration of the general maxim that a corner is worth 50 per cent, more tbau an inside lot, and we have a total of $105,000, We will go further and give the Pettit building a generous aUowanee of $50,000 for superiority in building and improvements—though Mr. Naetbing's building is a very substantial one—and we get a grand total of $215,000. I^t us take another basis of estimate. The ground on the northeast corner of Washington and Cortlandt streets cost the owner $82,000. Let us presume that he bought it cheaply and that it is now worth 50 per cent, more than be paid foi- it. This is a generous allowance and would make its value $123,000. Under these circumstances tbe altered building now on the sitp—changed by Mr, Pettit from four old five-story structm-es into oue flve-story buildiug—must have been estimated by the three experts for the Poughkeepsie Savings Bank as being worth $242,000, $207,000 and $277,000 respectively. Is there an expert in Hew York City, who knows his business thoroughly, who will value that ground at more than $123,000, or tbis altered building at any such sum as $242,000? It would be interesting to know what some othei" experts think the value of the property to be. -----------■----------- Oni' GomptroUei' says We Should Have IJTo Taxes. In conversation witb Mr, V, E. Stevenson the other day that gentleman said: "A great impression was made upon me by a statement made by our Comptroller, the Hon. Tbeodore W. Myers, the other day. My sole object in ever attempting to mix up in pobtics has beeu for the purpose of assist¬ ing in my humble way to procure the best possible city government in order to add to tbe value of New York City real estate by a radical reduc¬ tion in taxation. The increase in the population of New York is so immense, and so many ii oi"e people to bear tbe burden of taxation, specially on real estate, tbat we ought to have a material reduction in tax¬ ation. Om- pi-eseut Comptroller, who i^ at tbe head of the successful bank¬ ing house of T. W. Myers & Co., while he was being hauled over the coals about some little butcher stands recently in some market, was devoting his attention, care and gi-eat business experience in financial affairs to the marketing of about $12,000,000 of bonds of the City of New York for the pui-pose of paying for oui- new valuable parks recently acquired. This loan not only takes the cake but removes the whole bakery, for tbe reason that in the history of time on eithei- side of the water I have yet to bear of $12,000,000 of bonds or stocks sold at a shade over par witb commissions aud perquisites all off, bonds having fbu'ty yeai-s to run, and bearing but •2}4 per cent, interest per annum. If some of our able Comptrollei-'s clerks, old veterans tbat have been in the Comptroller's office for yeai-s under his predecessors, did makesomemistakein renting some stallsto these butchers, it doesn't amouut to a grain of sand in tbe interest of tbs citizens of New York—some little technical errors by one or two out of the 200 or 300 clerks tbe Comptroller has iu his office—compared with this remarkable negotiation at so radically low rates of interest. Now regardless of pobtics, this Comptroller has been a financial success since bis first attempts as a business man in his own banking and brokerage firm, and I am informed by om- :best taxpayers that deal in real estate with me tbat this man is i-unniug tbe Compti'oller's office exactly on tbe same principle that his own private banking bouse is conducted at 47 New street. I was amazed aud dumbfounded when casually meeting Mr. Myers on the boat yesterday, when, streaking of city affairs, be said tbat if he could i-un the departments of New Yoi'k and have control of affan-s authoritatively, that there would be no taxes for the citizens to pay. He says that be could pay tbe police and our honored judiciary and pave the streets and light them and run Ibe town out of the perquisites, rents and emoluments if properly cared for from rights of way, by surface aud elevated railroad docks, fei-ries, etc.; and there should be ample income, says the Comptrol¬ ler, from the city's own property and rights, to run and sustain tbe city. If Myers can give us a town without taxation then it don't make any difference to me if he is a County Democracy Democrat. This is a kind of a man I am looking for, no matter whether he be a Repubhcau, Mugwump, Copper Head, Radical, Democrat, or what not. Give me Myers all the tune on this basis." Men and Things, *** Plans have been filed at the Building Department for a six-story brick and stone flat with stores, size 23xfll3, to be builfc for James McCreery on the northeast'oriier of 41st street and 5th avenue, at a cost of $100,000. Albert Wagner is the architect. Neither mason nor carpenter have been selected, *** Mi-s, E. F. Shepard will build a seven-story brick and stone lodging bouse from plaus filed tbis week by her architect, R. H. Robertson. The location of thebuilding will be Nos. 14 and 16 East 16bh street, the size 51x105.6 feet, and the cost about $170,000. *** If the crowds wbich visit Fort George every Sunday and holiday are any indication of what may be expected when a quick and cheap mode of transit is established betweeu the city proper and tbe new paries beyond the Harlem, tbe people need have uo fear that the monev already spent on these properties has been wasted. It is almost'impossible, on a Sunday afternoon, to board a cable car going to Fort George after it has passed 3d avenue. Whether the people are attracted by tbe easy motion of the motive power and comfortable open cars of this line or by the walks and fields at the end of the route, it is impossible to say, but oue fact is certain —tbe crovfds go there. *** In many places between S6th and llOtb streets, on Madison avenue, the roadway between the car tracks is of earth, and, as a result, tbe passenger in dry weather is covered with dust after riding for less than half a mile. The company once in a while sends out a sobtary watering cart to refresh the thirsty earth, but one cart, and that not constantly employed, is Uttle more than a di-op in the bucket. Tbe way iu which passengers for Harlem are emptied, car load after car load, into one miserable car going nortb of 86tb street, is positively shameful and should be stopped. Strange as it may seem to the company, wben a passenger pays a five cent fai-e he is entitled to and has a right to expect a seat, but during "rush" hours lucky is the man who gets inside the door. *** In a work entitled "Tbe Dutch Grants, Harlem Patents aud Tidal Creeks,' John W. Pirsson has investigated tbe subject of early Dutch grants and the various foundations ot title resting on European discovery. Mr. Pu's- son comes to tbe conclusion that the Dutch never had auy right to the New Netherlands, and that the title of Great Britain was absolute and indis¬ putable. Tbe gi-eater part of the work is taken up witb a consideration of the Harlem patents, tbe title to which he considers valid. The work will