Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 75, no. 1930: March 11, 1905

Text version:

March ii, 1905 RECORD AND GUIDE 515 fUll; y ■ ESTABUSHED'^MW.CHSI'-?"*'-------- DB^Ofl) TD RfAj. EsrWE. BUILOII/O ftjf&rfrTECTURE ,t{ousEriou) DDMUfiiaii, Busufeas Alto Themes Of GEtfeR^ IKt^r^st. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS Tubtished eVery Satardap Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street, New YorH J. T. LINDSEY. Businesa Manager Telephone, Cortlandt 3157 "Entered at the Post Office at New York. JY. Y. as second-class matter." ^ Copyright by the Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide Company, Vol. LXXV. MARCH 11, 1005. No. 1930. PRICES of securities continue to rise. There are many- small reactions; liut one after anottier the leading rail¬ way stoclis are forced higher and higher. They are all selling now on a hasis, which makes them yield somewhere between three and four per cent., but of course the expectation is that they represent a value larger for the time being than the rate of dividend distribution. Such is undoubtedly the ease; but it is also true that the prices of these securities haa for the most part pretty well discounted any increase in the rate of distribu¬ tion which will take place during the present year. It does cot look as If the prices of railway shares could be forced very much higher during the present spring. On the other hand there is a margin for a further advance in certain of the best industrial isues—unless the steel trade again loses its balance and excessive prices produce an early reaction. There is cer¬ tainly no reason to sell good stocks just now, for high as is their price they may go a littie higher before they go lower; hut on the other hand the amount of money still to be made on the bull side during the current year cannot be very great. The on.y contingency which might produce trouble would be a steady increase in the money rates. THE speculation in lots on Washington Heights is for the time being about over, and we shall be able to judge in a few weeks what its results will be. There has been some dis¬ position to criticise the people who have participated in this speculation on the gi-ound that they have been taking away from tbe inhabitants of New York any advantage which the latter might have derived, in the way of cheaper rents and better ac¬ commodations for the money, from the building up of Wash¬ ington Heights; but such criticisms are unnecessary. The specu¬ lation has undoubtedly had for its avowed object the increase of values on the Heights to a level as near as possible as that of the West Side; and it has been to a large extent succesful. But this level of prices cannot be maintained unless it can be justi¬ fied by economic conditions; and if it is justified by such con¬ ditions, it would have taken place any way. On the other hand it it is not justified by economic conditions, the speculators will have to pay for a mistake in judgment. It is their business to anticipate price movements, but they cannot create a level of prices in any section which is not warranted by the permanent value of that section for business or residence. We shall be able to tell this spring whether their judgment was or was not souhd, because much of this property is weakly held, and must be disposed of to builders without any considerable delay. Thus far the announcements for new buildings in this section have not come up to expectations. Apart from the diminished number of sales on the Heights, real estate is as active as ever and in a thoroughly wholesome way. The demand for business prop¬ erty of all kinds is excellent, and residences also are in ex¬ cellent demand. If the outlook for peace in the building trades continues good during the next month, we expect to see the sud¬ den development of a large number of plans for flreproof build¬ ings, which bave been accumulating since the summer of 1903. Fourth av, will be the next streets to be occupied by loft build¬ ings, and the buildings which will go up on the corners will resemble the building on the southwest corner of Fourth av and 23d st. The "antique" shops will have to go elsewhere, pre¬ sumably on. the side streets nearer Fifth av. The Tiffany Studios in deciding to move away is only anticipating the time, when that vicinity will be occupied by the wholesale trade. Whether the part of Madison av, south of 34th st wiil also be occupied by wholesale business is more doubtful. Commercial it wiil certainly become; but its eligibility for the retail ti-ade is such that it is most likely to be transformed into a less expen¬ sive copy of 5th av. As to the rest of Madison av, its fate is more dubious. There is a disposition to believe that the Murray hii! section—between 34th and 42d sts—will inevitably be com¬ mercialized-. Perhaps it will eventually; but there is every indi¬ cation that it will resist the process for a good many years. Residence property is strongly held thereabouts, and is so ex¬ pensive that it cannot be attractive to any business that can¬ not pay very high rents. We suspect that this part of Madison av will not change radically in the near future—particularly if, as is intimated, Mr. J, P. Morgan proposes to erect a new resi¬ dence on the block front he owns between 36th and 37th sts. North of 42d st, up as far as 59th, it looks as if business would creep slowly but constantly in. The case of the Tiffany Studios, ia indeed, the flrst instance of the purchase by an important concern of a location in this part of Madison av; but the prox¬ imity of the new and enlarged Grand Central Station, and of the clubs, restaurants and hotels in that vicinity all tend to give it a character, which will make the transition to business uses unavoidable and persistent. This part of Madison av will follow the same course as the part between 26th and 34th sts; it is likely to become a second edition of Sth av as a business thoroughfare as it has hitherto been a second edition of Sth av as a residential thoroughfare. Of course, there are certain districts — particularly that between 4Sth and 53d sts, which will yield slowly; but business will work down from 59th st and up from 42d st. Whether it will also work up from 59th st is another question. It has already been working up for a block or two; but not in a very serious way. There seems to be no reason why this part of Madison av, that between 60th and 90th sts, should not remain residential during the next generation. THE purchase of the former building of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club, situated at the corner of 44th st and Madi¬ son av, by the Tiffany Studios, raises interesting questions about both Madison and Fourth avs. The part of Fourth av, in which the Tiffany Studios is now situated—between 23d and 32d sts^ has never possessed very much business importance. The only sort of trade, which has collected on these streets is that in "Antique" furniture and the like; and it is improbable that the avenue will preserve a character adapted to that kind of retail store. Unless all signs fail, the streets running off this part of THE tie-up of the Subway and the elevated roads is practi¬ cally over, but its lesson should not be allowed to escape. The public of this city has taken the incident good-naturedly, partly because it realized that it would not last long, and partly because the great majority believed that the company was right in not yielding to the demands of the union. Nevertheless a paralysis of rapid transit, such as this, inconveniencing as it does millions of people and endangering the lives of thousands— should not be possible under the law. In the case of these public utilities a corporation and its employees should be obliged by law to submit their differences to arbitration. It should be a penal offense for the crews of the cars to desert their posts. If they make demands which the company will not grant, or are subjected to treatment which they believe to be unfair, the law should pi-ovide that a certain number of the Justices of the Supreme Court should decide between the union and the com¬ pany; either one of the parties which refuses to accept the de¬ cision of the court, should be subject to arrest and a flne and imprisonment. It is a matter in which the public's interest is paramount, and public opinion under such circumstances would not sanction unfair treatment, either to employer or employee. Such a step may not be taken immediately; but it must come eventually. Suppose for instance, as is entirely possible, the Interborough Company should absorb the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, and that the employees of both branches of tbe service should join the same unions. Under such circum- Fiances, it would be possible for the union absolutely instead of only partially to tie up the transit service of Manhattan, with effects proportionately disastrous. When the people of New York lived south of 59th st, they might conceivably have walked to their offices; but now they MUST ride and the MUST will be stronger still, when Washington Heights is completely settled. It is improbable that another such crisis will occur again soon; but now that the city is obtaining an effective control over its public utilities, it should use that control to protect all of its legitimate interests. AS a result of the discussion of the past week, it seems to the Record and Guide tolerably clear what should be done in respect to the elevated connection between the Brooklyn and Williamsburgh Bridges. A subway having apparently insuper-