Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 69, no. 1781: May 3, 1902

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^- RECORD AKD GUIDE. May 3, 1902^ to make fair interest upon it by handing it to the Collector of Taxes in liquidation of their obligation to him, which would not be legally due until the flrst Monday in October. These advance payments would probably equal the payments now made in the rebate months of October and November, and while the' city would pay very little, if anything more in rebates, it ■would save largely by being relieved of much of its necessity of borrowing to meet current expenses. However, final opinions on the means to effect the reform need not be expressed now, but this must be insisted upon, that it ought to be possible for a community as rich and intelligent as this, in the course of eight or nine months of consideration to find a way'of effecting a large saving in the public expenditures, especially as the problem presented is an ordinary one to tbe business world, namely, one of cutting off redundant expendi¬ tures. The amount of the tax rate has such an important effect upon the income value of real estate that property owners will heave a sigh of relief at the announcement that for the present year at least there will be no in- i ipi^g ■ ' crease of the rate. On the contrary there will _ _ probably be a small decrease, although the i-! amount of that decrease cannot be precisely 'So , . '**' decided until the assessments are finally estab- .-„ -,; 1902. lished. The decrease will not be sufficient to repay tax-payers to an appreciable extent for lhe rough treatment they have received during the bloated Jieriod of consolidation, but the best part of it is tbat very pos¬ sibly the decrease for the present year will be followed by a still larger decrease for the year following. The tax rate is, of course, the composite result of so many different factors that it would be absurd to predict confidently tbat the rate for 1903 -will be appreciably lower than that for 1902. But what can he Conservatively stated is that several different conditions are making for reduction. In the first place the State tax will be some $4,000,000 less than it is this year. If all of this saving went to the benefit of the tax-payers, it would mean a decrease of more than ten points in the rate, but though this is too much to expect, it is evident that the present administration will at least try bard to take advantage of this opportunity to win the approval of tax-payers. Moreover, there is another source of possible diminution. When the preliminary figures of the as¬ sessed valuation of real estate were made public in January, the Record and Guide showed by selected instances that these valu¬ ations had not been influenced as yet either by the enormous building movement which began early in 1901, or by the extra¬ ordinary advances in real estate values which had been recently taking place. - While the business actually consummated during the past week shows a diminution in volume compared with that of previous weeks, it has been marked by several important sales. Probably the most interesting and significant of these transactions is the purchase of the Characteristics piaza Hotel by a syndicate with Judge Dugro of -tie at its head. It wiil be remembered that one 'Week. of the worst mistakes alleged against the man¬ agement of a former president of the New York Life was this Plaza Hotel investment, and that the company should be able finally to get out, probably without a loss and perhaps with a profit, is a telling indication pf the increased value of property in that vicinity. The Plaza (square) is the handsomest square in New York and has reaped the full advantage of the growth of upper 5th ave. The site of the Plaza Hotel is much the finest location on the square, and perhaps, also the finest site iu all the city for a quiet but elegant family hotel. The existing building can easily be much improved and rendered more profitable by the new purchasers. Other parts of 5th ave. also have been as active as ever. "Huylers" is the latest of tbe well-known shops, now located in the vicinity of Broadway and 23d st,, to find a new site on mid¬ dle Sth ave. The particular one selected is between 42d and 43d sts., and together with the changes in the Hotel Rennaisance and the Hotel Bristol, almost one whole block will be modern¬ ized and will contribute to the total effect of the new Sth ave. It is apparent also, that Madison ave. in the same vicinity will be¬ fore long become the site for a big building operation, which will assist the transformation of the neighborhood. No blocks in the city are more active than these immediately north of 42d St., from Madison ave. to Long Acre square. An extremely in¬ teresting projected improvement is that of a twelve story apart¬ ment hotel for the Grand Circle. This, the second modern build¬ ing, which the activity in that region has caused or will cause to be erected, but it may be doubted whether it foreshadows the future uses to which sites on the Grand Circle or in the vicinity thereof will be put. Unlike the Plaza, which is dis¬ tinctively a hotel square, it looks as if the Circle would prob¬ ably be chiefiy an amusement center, diversified of course with hotels, restaurants, ahd the kind of stores that accompany them. The fact that Broadway passes through the Circle is sufficient to warrant this prediction. There has been less activity than has been customary this week, both on the East and West Sides. Fewer residences have been sold than for some time past; but a strong healthy demand for them still exists, and will doubtless keep on bearing fruit. In another column, we give for what it is worth a piece of news, which should the operation go through, will prove to be of the utmost importance. It has been evident that after the Subway was in use, the corners of 23d st. and 4th ave, would become extremely desirable sites for large mercantile en¬ terprises, and tbe purchase of the "Young Men's Christian Asso¬ ciation Building last spring by the Central Realty, Bond and Trust Company, was followed by lively speculations as to what would eventually be done with the property. Well, that is still in doubt, but the fact is established that some large interest has recently been making strenuous efforts to piece out a big plot on 22d and 23d sts., near 4th ave., and it looks as if they would succeed. When such a plot is pieced out, it wouid be one of the best locations in the city for a department store. A canvass made during the past week, the results of which are published in another column, exhibits in its completeness a fact of which the Record and Guide has frequently offered in¬ dividual examples. It shows that the office buildings, which have been finished this spring Office Building are all of them well rented for the first year of Present and their tenancy. No one of them is less than Future. 80 per cent, leased, and several of them will be immediately fllled from top to bottom And these successes have been obtained in spite of a level of prices some 20 per cent, higher than that of a few years ago. It is manifest from this exhibit that in spite of the active building of the past year, the demand for offices in and near the financial district still runs ahead of the sup¬ ply, and that conditions offer an abundant warrant for a con¬ tinuation of the existing rate of construction probably for two more years. According to present indications, more office build¬ ings will be started during the spring and summer of 1902, than there were during the spring and summer of 1901. It is impos¬ sible at the moment to ascertain precisely how many of the projects announced during the last few months will actually be realized, but indications point to one building on Battery place, three on lower Broadway, one on Broad st., one on Exchange place, aud one each on Wall and Pine sts., and two on William St. This seems to be a formidable list, but most of these build¬ ings will cover comparatively small plots, and so will not in¬ crease rentable space as largely as might be expected—certainly not largely enough to satisfy the constantly increasing demand of the present time. Moreover, the structural steel situation makes it extremely improbable that any new projects can be put in practicable shape during the remainder of this year. So it will naturaiiy follow that during the spring of 1903 the financial district will be the scene of more building than ever. Of course this will depend upon the maintenance of the present level of prosperity, but business will scarcely begin to take a down grade as soon as that. The fact is that space in the financial district proper is becoming peculiarly valuable to certain opulent institutions, banks, life insurance companies, and so forth, and that the competition of these interests has forced prices up so high that twenty story buildings are becoming the only possible means of getting even a decent interest on the investment. Less wealthy corporations, such as the fire in-