Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 63, no. 1626: May 13, 1899

Text version:

Record and Guide , ■".*'j May 13,1899. ject of the designer's genius for novelty either in arrangement or finish. Generally, the layout of" this floor consists of parlor, foyer, dining room and butler's pantry, but the form and dis¬ position varies with each house. Mr, Buek has always been successful in presenting attractive and artistic interiors, and in this operation he has produced beautiful rooms by painstaking combinations of woods, tiles and hardware, among which the hirds-eye maple and white enamel parlors are sure to be par¬ ticularly commended. The same care for varied detail is found in the bedroom floors, where the rich effects of hazel predominate and the disposition of the rooms, dressing saloons and bathrooms la at once practical and engaging. Some of the major differences, or rather the special features of individual houses, have yet to be mentioned. For instance, while No. 310 has a 3-story pantry extension. No. 312 has the same and an elevator; No. 316 and 318 have a 4-story extension, and No. 320 a 3-story smoking roora extension; while No. 322 has a 3-story dining roora extension; No. 324 has a bay front, with octagon rear; No. 326. a swell front and rear and an elevator. Each house has three perfectly furnished and fitted tiled and panelled bathrooms, servants' stairs to second and third stories and separate servants' quarters and bathroom. Where there are elevators the shafts are fireproof. The kitchens, pantries, and offices are complete in every particular. The heating is by hot- air, supplemented by gas logs, or fireplaces. Pneumatic com¬ munications run from all over the houses to an enumerator in the kitchens. All the materials and furnishings and workman¬ ship are in every particular first-class, up-to-date and practical. As to location, that is especially good, being on the highest point in the vicinity and commanding all the attractions of the Riverside Drive and Central Park; the transit services and the other conveniences that have made the West Side the ideal resi¬ dence section of the city. Prices of these houses are quite moderate and the terms gener¬ ous. The houses are always open to inspection without permits and the owner will be glad to answer inquiries of intending buy¬ ers during all business hours at his office No. 109 West 42d street THE REAL ESTATE EXCHAKGE AND AUCTION ROOM, LTD Under a contract signed on Wednesday "the New York Realty. Bond, Exchange and Trust Co., will take title on or before June 12 to the property of the Real Estate Exchange and Auction Room, Limited, at Nos. 59 to 65 Liberty street, the consideration being $580,000 in cash. The action of the Committee on Sale of Building, which was appointed about IS months ago, when it was determined to wind up the affairs of the exchange, was con¬ firmed yesterday by the Board of Directors. The sale includes the information bureau and other belongings of the exchange, with the exception of the portraits of presidents in the directors' room. The portraits will be presented to the originals or their families. So soon as the purchase money has been received into the treasury a meeting of the stockholders will be called to au¬ thorize its distribution. According to President Harnett, each stockholder will receive the par value of his holding. The sales of its property means the abandonment of the franchise and the dissolution of the exchange, which for many years has exerted an important influence on real estate interests. Under the build¬ ing law it exercised the right of appointing a member of the Board of Examiners of the Building Department, and it did valuable service to property owners no less than the real estate profession by taking position on public questions affecting their interests, such, for instance, as rapid transit, taxation, consolidation, etc. The Real Estate Exchange and Auction Room, Limited, was organized in 1883. with Edward H. Ludlow as its first president, and Richard V. Harnett, H. H. Cammann. Leopold Friedman, Albert Bellamy, Samuel F. Jayne, S. Van Rensselaer Cruger, Isaac Honig, George R. Scott, E. A. Crulkshank. John H. Sher¬ wood. James Stokes and David G. Croly, at that time editor of the Real Estate Record and Guide, as its first board of directors. It took possession of the Liberty street property in April, 1885, when the auctioneers abandoned their quarters at No. Ill Broad¬ way, where sales had been held since 1803. Since its organiza¬ tion every real estate broker and auctioneer of standing in the community has been a member of the exchange, and E. H. Lud¬ low, H. H. Cammann, E. A. Crulkshank, George Hobart Scott Geo. R. Read, George de Porest Barton,. Douglas Robinson, Al¬ fred E. Marling, and Richard V. Harnett, have been its successive presidents. The removal of the legal sales back to No. Ill Broadway, in 1892. proved to be the beginning of the end of the exchange. Tiie exchange property contains about 7,818 square feet. Allowing $32,740 for the furniture and records and for the expenses of sale, leaves $553,000—the purchase price of the property—or $70 per square foot. The last capital account of the exchange, published Nov. 15, 1S98, showed that the assets consisted of the real property, which cost originally .^422,844.24; besides alterations and improvements, $149,386.36, and records, maps, and fixtures, $12,053.60, making a total of $584,884.20. The liabilities were: Capital stock, $500,000; mort¬ gage to United States Trust Company, $73,000 at 4 per oent; balance, $11,884.20; total, $584,884,20. The price paid for the property, $580,000, is expected to make the stock of the Real Estate Exchange and Auction Room worth par. It has been sell¬ ing for several years at from 70 to 82. The liquidation of the exchange was decided upon about eighteen months ago. when a committee of sale was appointed. The brokers In the sale were Richard V. Harnett & Co. By way of historical interest it may be noted that the Real Estate Exchange Building, originally the Marquand Building, occupies about two-thirds of the site of the old Quaker meeting-house and graveyard, placed at the begin¬ ning of the 18th century on what was then the northwest corner of Crowne and Little Greene streets. The New York Realty, Bond, Exchange and Trust Company is a new corporation organized under a special charter granted by the Legislature last year, and begins business with a paid-up capital of $1,000,000 and a surplus of $500,000. Its primary pur¬ pose is to conduct a general banking business for the real estate interests, as, for example, furnishing money to building loan operators, and making first mortgage loans for short terms, as- 30 or GO days, on guaranteed titles. As may be inferred .from the names of prominent stockholders, a distinctive aim of the corpor¬ ation is to direct capital controlled by Wall street financiers into real estate channels, on the theory that real estate selected by experts, is as practical a collateral to base a banking business on as stocks and bonds. The company will guarantee the payment of the principal and interest of mortgages, and issue bonds against real estate mortgages, these bonds being made lawful investments for executors, trustees, guardians, and committees. It will manage realty and act as trustee for estates and persons. It is expressly authorized to list, and have dealt in by its mem¬ bers, all manner of securities based upon real estate values, in¬ cluding municipal bonds as well as its own bonds or debentures —in other words, to conduct an exchange. Finally, it will pur¬ chase real estate, and act as a medium for its distribution, by shares, to mdividuals. Henry iMorgenthau is its president, with ex-Mayor Hugh J. Grant as flrst vice-president. It will make extensive alterations to the Liberty street building, reserving the auction room and some offices for its own use, and renting the rest. THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS. ----- The following communication addressed to the editor of the Commercial Advertiser by Mr. F. C. Moore, the president of the Continental Pire Insurance Co. and a member of the Board of Examiners at the Building Department explains itself: Editor, of the Commercial Advertiser: Sir—On my return to the city last evening my attention was called for the first time to the article in your issue of Saturday last, in which you are pleased to give me exceptional credit for fidelity in the discharge of my duty as a member of the Board of Examiners of the Euilding Department of this city. I am unwilling even by the implication of silence to appro¬ priate a compliment which I do not deserve and deprive my as¬ sociates on the Board of the credit to which each of them is en¬ titled. It has never been my privilege to sit with a body of men more conscientious than they in dealing with important matters. During the years of my connection with the Board I have never discovered the slightest evidence of unfairness to those whose appeals have been submitted for decision; in comparatively few instances are there any dissenting votes, and I am sure that those who vote in the minority, as well as those who vote in the majority, mutually concede honesty of purpose and conscientious exercise of judgment. The reflections of your article upon Wiiiiam J. Pryer are most unjust to that gentleman. He has never sought in any way to be a leader of the majority. He is an engineer and architect of exceptional ability, and, I believe, is better acquainted with the building law of this city than any other one man. He has been criticised for acting as consulting expert in engineering and architectural questions while a raeraber of the Board. This criticisra is simply ridiculous. The maximum compensation he could receive from the Board of Examiners if he attended every meeting throughout the year, would be $520. Moreover, the building law expressly implies that the members of the Board sliall be men who are actively at work in their respective call¬ ings, thus being in touch with the business of construction and peculiarly qualifled by reason of this fact for service on the Board of Examiners. Respectfully yours, P. C. MOORE. HALL OF RECORDS APPRAISEMENTS. The first expert witness for the city in the matter of the con¬ demnation of the Hall of Records' site, and the land for the new street to the west of it, has been examined. He is John Davis, and his valuations are for land only. His flgures differ very con¬ siderably from those of the property-owners' experts. Prank Lord, Alwyn Ball and Wm. M. Ryan, who, however, have not tes- tifled on some of the parcels required. All the appraisements of land so far included in the testimony are summarized in the fol¬ lowing table. It should be remambered that they are as of Sep¬ tember 18, 1897. The property-owners' appraisements of land and buildings together were given some time ago: Jno Frank Alwyn Wm. M. LocatioD. Davis. Lord. Ball. Ryan. 35 & 37 Chambers st. & 13 Reade. .?22T,STa75 Sa47.400 ?3