Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 60, no. 1544: October 16, 1897

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542 TTI Record and Guide October i6, 1897. be. The city waited for the appolntment of the Harbor Com- misslon, which it was then proposed to appoint and whîch was appointed in 1855, and fileci their map in 1857. In 1859 an ex- terior street was laid out by a surveyor natned Southarû, hence its name. which hegins at SGth street and runs all the way to the Hudson River along the Harlem Biver and Spuyten Duyvii Creeĩc. It was 70 ft. wide most of the way, hut spread out to 130 ft. at l20th street. After fhis street was laid out the city made various grants of land under water to adjacent owners, but ex- cluûed from those grants any streets, avenues or roads which were then ĩawfully laid out, or might thereafter be laid out. Owner.g of these grants claimed that they were entitled to dam- ages for the lands under water it was proposed to take, but this claim the city could not admit, not mereiy because of the in- crease it would occasion to the amount of daraages in the cases under review, but because ĩt would have been a preeedent in all slmilar cases along the Harlem River or Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Thi3 matter was argued at great length and consumed consid- erable tlme. The Commission decîded in favor of tĩie city and the property owners accepted thMv decision. It was owing to the impossibility of terminating these diíĩer- ences that the act of ISOO \vas passed gíving the city title In June of that year and provision was made for investing title fn tho city of any other land reauired for these approaches. By that means work could proceed while the city and property owners weresettling inevitable iegal differences. MORNtNGSIDE PLATEAU. Tlie improvement of real estate on Morningside plateau effected duringthe past fĩveyears is oneof the notable achievements in the history of the West Side. Five years ago the region bounded by llOth and Ĩ22d streets, Morningside avenue and Riverside Drive was practically empty of houses, and the character which coming improvements would assume was a niatter of uncortainty. To-day ihe presence of Columbia University, the Teachers' and Barnard Colleges, and some thirty high-class dwellings determine the architectural and social complexion of the district. Tfie first impetus to improvement of real estate onthe plateau was given by the sale of part of the grounds of Bloomingûale Asylum in 1880. This institution was owned by the Society of the New York Hospitai, which possessed the fee of between forty and fifty acres of land, cultivated as a farm, on the fairest portion of the heights. "VVhen the society deteriníned to remove the asy- lum to White Flains an auction sale was held of ninety-eight lots on Amsterdam avenue (then called lOth avenue), the Boulevard, and 112th. lV6th and lllth streets. The sale, which took place on April 4, 1SS9, was conducted hy Adrĩan H. Muller & Son, and the prices obtained were consiâered satisfaclory. Lots on the Bouĩevard brought from $t),350 to $9,600 each; on Arasterdam avenue, from $5,800 to $8,600. The 113th street lots reaiized £rom $4,450 to $5,000; the lots on 114th street brought from $4,350 to $4,575; and the n2th street lots fetehed from $3,335 to .$4,275. Ail lots were sold subject to restriction, dwenings only being permitted on the streets, and fiats and stores on the ave- nues. The sum of $500,400 was realized on the eighty-nine lots— an average of $5,100 per lot. The quickening effect of the distri- bution oE this land among private owners is indieated by the increasing number of conveyances subsequently recorded, al- though purchases appear to have been made for some years with a view to investment rather than immediate improveraent. The next important sale occurred in October, 1891, when the trustees oE the Leake. and Watts Orphan House disposed of the three blocks bounded by llOth and 113th streets, JVĨorningside and Amsterdam aveiiues to the Cathedrai of St. John the Divine for $850,000. The parcel comprised 200 lots, giving an average pricé of $4,250 per lot. This very low price is explained by the presence of considerahle masses of i'ock on the site and by the circumstance that the trustees oE the Leake and Watts Orphan House were afllliated with the Episcopal Chureh, and that, wheti the resolve was made to remove the asylum to Ludlow. it was thought that the founders' intention in regard to the land would be best respected by insuring its deûication to the use of religion. The flling of plans for a cathedral tauilding in the following year, looking to an e?rpenditure of five millions of dollars reflected the Judgment of experts as to the future of the neighborhood. It is true that flnancial causes of delay have arisen to retard the work on this splendid architectural monument. Nevertheless, its pro- jection produced an extremeiy beneflcial effect on surroundnig property. The year Eollowing the purcliase of the cathedral site, namely, in 1S02, St. Luke's Hospital acquired the biock bounded hy llSth and 114th streets, Morningside and Amsterdam avenues. Tho transaction comprised eight separate parcels, title to the flrst being obtained Fehruary 29, and to the last March 15. The block contains 44 lots, and the aggregate purchase price was .$530,000, making an average of $12,045 per iot—a marked ad- vance over previous averages, due, partly to the proximity of the e.atbedral site, and partly to the circumstancf; that the iand wa.s purchased from private owners in conparatively smaĩi parcels. The iargest singie factor, however, in promoting private real estate and building activity on the plateau was the removal hither of Columbia TJnÍversity. Durlng the three years previous to and including the yéar of the purchase of the jiresent aite, plans were fiied for flats and dw^ellings to cost $245.000; during the three years foilowĩng the purchase plans werf flled for simi- lar buildings to cost $780,000—an increase of 218 per cent. Tlipse figures take no aceount of seven dwellings for which plans were fĩled in 1890 anû lor whieh the cost is omitted in tlnî records, The Columbia TJniversity site was ac(iiiired in October, 1894, nt which Lime the trustees of that institution purchased from Ihe Society of the New York Hospitaĩ the íour blocks boimded liy llíith and 120th streets, the Boulevard and Amsterdam avenue for .$2,000.(100. The plot inoludes 294 lots, making an íivoragi: price of $0,SŨ2 per lot, It is not nccessary to cite all the important conveyanops IIiliI have been made in the period under review, our prlmary objerl being merely to contrast the land values of 1889 with thosc ol' 1807. The transactions meniioned were the determining factoi'S in producing tlie present condition of i'eal estate oii the plateau. If, now. we proceed to a comparison of the prlces oE 1889 with those that obtain at tiie present day, we finrt tiiat tho advance has been sufl^icientiy marked to excite attentioii. At the sale beld by the Sociely of the New York Hospital in 1.889, the lot on the soutliwest coî-ner of Amsterdam avenue and lllth street brought $8,600. which was also tiie price commanded by the lot on the nni'thwe;;! covner of the same avenue and 113th street. The hĩghest price obtained for inside Jots fronting on the avenue iii this block was $6,0.50. In 1S97 two inside ĩots on the west side ot tlie avenue, 25 and 50 feet north of llSth street, respectively, sold fôr $13.000 eaoh. The lot on the same side of the same thor- oughfare, 25 feet south of 114th street, brought $16,000. As to corner lots, the records show one transfer in the present year, but as the lot in question passed as part of a larger parcel the transaction is useĩess for purposes oC comparison. On the Boule- vard we finû no conveyances in 1897 which may serve as an ex- pression of values, and the same is the case with respect oC Morningside avenue, although it may be noted that tlie plot, 50x 100, on the southwest corner of that thoroughfare and llSth street, sokl for .$22.500 in December, 1S90. Praotically no aetĩvity has been felt on Rĩverside Drive either in oonveyancing or in huilding improvement until this spring, when twelve lots were put under the hainmer at a partition salc conducted by A. H. Muller &. Son. On this occasiou the lot on the southeast oorner of tlOth street sold for $28,000, while inside lots brought from $14,300 to $17,750. As a matter oí fact, the lots on the avenues, the Drive and the Boulevard are held as investments in strong Iiands, and will harûly be improveû in considerable numher until tlie building up of the streets. Tiie street lots iiave been the sub- ject of by far the largest aotivity both in conveyancing and in improvement. On llSth street, between Amslerdam avenue and the Boulevard, inside lots sold this year at $S,100, as against $5,t)00 in 1889. We have no basis for coraparison iii the matter oC l!12th and 114th streets. If we are ivarranted in drawing a gen- eral conclusion from íhe partioular data adduced, it is apparent tliat land values on the plateau have advanced in eight years hetween Íî5 and 1G4 per cent. Turning to a eonsideration of the improvenients that have been made on the pJateau, we find that buildings to the value of nearly fîve millions of dollars ($4,974,550) have been erected dur- ing the.period under review. In arriving at this estimate, we- have aocepted the values plaoed on projected structures in the plana filed with the Superintendent oC Buildiugs; and, with the exoeptĩon of the oathedral, have incUided buiĩdings in prooess of oonstructipn--as well as those compieted. Of ĩhis sum, roughly speaking, four miilions represent public buildlngs. oomprising those of 'iColumbia University, the Teacliers' and Barnard Col- leges, St. Luke's Hospital, and the Home for Aged Couples; one- halC milliran represents dwellings, and a ciuaríer of a miilĩon, stands for Sats. 'The markød preponderance of dweĩlings over flats is the result partly of the'operation oE natural economic conditions, but partly :iIso the flesígn. According to the terms of the sale held tay the So- ciety of the Ntw Y(..rk Hospital in l.SS9,the lots on 114th,l]3th and part of 112th sLreets, between Amsterdam avenue and the Boule,; vard, were restrĩcted for a gu'en period—20 years, we beiieve—tc tbe usia oC dwellings. Attempts Iiavc- since been ĩnade, but with- (;ut success, to otatain the consent oí owners lo a restriction of tiic ontire plateau. It is: not impossihle, however, that thĩs object may be accomplished by the Morningsicĩe Proteolive Associatíon, of which Mr. Setii Lov/ is president; Mr. Spencer Trask, treasurer; and Mr. J. P. Morgan, Jr.,secretary; and of wliich Mr. H. H. Cara- man and Mr. Charles: T. Barney are directors. But whether or not the formaĩ reslriotion of the plateau is achieved its ciiaracter as a high-class residence distriot is well established, both by thc improvements already made anfl by the seiitiment of the prin- cipal owners, MosL of ijie vaoant land is helû as investments by suoli corporations and iudividuals of we.alth as the Astoi's, C. P. Huntington, Rubert Goelet, Daniel S. Slawson, tlie White estate. Jacob Law.-íon, Amos R. tno, Jordan L. Mott, tfie Society of the New York Hospital, John Watts D. Peyster, James J. Goodwin. Lucy W. Drexel. the Central National Eank, Mary B. O. Dwight. etc. Furthermore, în th^e atasence of better transportation faoili- ties, the class oE resideMs attraotecl to tiie heights is not of the kind that is housed in tthe average flat. The onĩy transportaiional lines whioh traverse the plateau are ;'