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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 78, no. 2014: October 20, 1906

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October 20, 1906 RECORD AND GUIDE 635 ESTABUSHED"^ tf^CH 21VA1868. Dev&teD p KeA-L Estate . BuiLoiffc i^Rofitecture .KouseMoid Decoratidi!, Busii/e;3s AffoThemes or GejJeh^I li/TERfsi. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS PuhUshed every Saturday Communications should bo addressed to C, W. S'WEET Downtown Otfice: 14-16 Vesey Street, New York Telolihono, Cortiaudl 3157 UDto'A'n Olfice: 11-13 East 24th Street Telephono, Madison Sijuare 1688 ''Entered at ihe Tost Offlce at New York. N. Y,. as seco?id-cla»i matter." Vol, LXXVIIL October 20, 1906. INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS, Advertising Section, Page Page Cement....................xxx Law........................xi Consulting Engineers........'.x Lumber ..................xxx Clay Products .............xxix Machinery ...................iv Contractors and Builders ,;___v Metal 'Work ...............xvii Electrical Interests ..........xs Quick Job Directory .........xxix .Fireproofing ..................ii Real Eatate ...............xiii Granite ..................xxvi Roofers & Roofing Mater'Is,xxviii Heating....................xxii Stone .....................xxxi Iron and Steel.............xviil Wood Products ..............xxx DULNESS prevailed in the Stoclt Marltet this 'weelv. In¬ deed prices, on the 'wliole, may be said to he a little lo'wer than last ■week and flatness more pronounced. Money on call was somewhat tighter, but rather easier on time. Railroad and trade reports grow instead of diminishing In their account of great activity in business and traffic, and continue their encour¬ aging monotony. There is no halt in our prosperous progress, yet speculation could not be deader'were we in the midst of a great depression. Wall Street finds it convenient to account for this state of things by the political unrest r.nd consequent situation, but it may be that time ■will develop other reasons. In the meantime the"Hopeful Club" has a large membership waiting to be made happy after the election in this State. As it is, the tape moves spasmodically. It is felt that a period of uncertainty is being tided over, and some say that the financiers who have arranged for important combinations and other big things which await announcement, will proclaim them at a time when the public mind is in condition to receive them properly. This would not appear to be the case at the moment. There is a strong undertone in some stoclts and securities. A feature worthy of remark was the strength of the United States Steel Corporation's sinking fund 5 per cent, bonds, which sold at 101, a new high record. But taking the market as a whole, bank¬ ing interests and cliques appear to be giving the market little or no support. Secretary Shaw was in Wall Street this week, but refused to discuss the iSnancial situation, in which latter it may be said there is nothing that should cause immediate anxiety. All that can be done, therefore, is to await developments in this important matter; which, other things being equal, should be favorable to a renewal of activity in real estate and its kindred interests. tunities during 1907 would fall to those people who are inter¬ ested in properties between Twenty-third and Forty-second streets, which is capable of being developed for business pur¬ poses. The demand for loft room iu tliat part of the city is still excellent, and large as has been the number of buildings of thaf kind erected during receut years, the supply has not overreached the demand. It is likely that this part of the city still affords the best opportunity for speculative activity. There are many side streets and several avenues in the area bounded by Twenty-third and Forty-second streets, Lexington and Eighth avenues, which have not received the attention which they deserve. It is this area which is to be the heart of the New York of the future—of the New York the majority of whose inhabitants will live in The Bronx, on Long Island, or in New Jersey, and who will have cheap aud convenient means of traveling to and from their homes. These people will be able to reach this central district more conveniently than they can reach any other part of Manhattan, and a vast amount of the necessary machinery of business and pleasure will neces¬ sarily be concentrated in this square mile of territory. Of course, it will be some years before the new tunnels and rapid transit routes will begin to have their effect, and the purchaser may have to wait for some time before he can make large profits, but it is the man who buys now and holds on tight who will make the money. For the present, the only indication of the future prosperity on the streets and avenues which have been hitherto neglected will be the steady purchases for the sites of new loft buildings. Such purchases, however, will really only make time. The day will soon arrive when this whole district will be the central point of a number of transit fun¬ nels whose large ends will be situated in the outlying boroughs, and which will confer an extraordinary monopoly on the owners of real estate within the area described. No. 2014 IT can hardly be declared that as the season advances the real estate market in Manhattan becomes more interesting or more active. On the contrary, it is most assuredly less active and interesting than it has been for years. It has failed entirely to develop a marked speculative tendency In any one direction or in any one part of the city. The speculation in tenement houses, which has been such a noticeable feature of the market since the fall of ]903, has at length subsided. The speculation in vacant land is confined to the outskirts of the city, and does not affect expensive unimproved real estate in Manhattan, A large number of new buildings are still being erected on the West Side and in the wholesale districts; but there is uo pronounced activity in those sections, A few weeks ago the purchase of private dwellings on the West Side attracted some attention, bufit soon vanished, and it never attracted much interest on the part of speculators. The fact is that the or¬ dinary speculator is less certain about the value of the oppor¬ tunities for making money in real estate than he has been at any time during the past five years. The tenement house speculation has been worked out, and will leave many small operators, who have lived on It for several years, a good deal at a loss what to do. Throughout the coming year at least, the erection of new tenement and apartment houses will be a somewhat precarious business, which can be undertaken only by people ■with abundant capital. It looka aa If the beat oppor- The New Fifth Avenue. THE Opening of the new dry goods store of Benjamin Altman & Co,, at tbe corner of Pifth Aveuue and Thirty-fourth Street, is tbe best possible indication of the transformation which has been taking place on that thoroughfare since 1901. The character of the Altman store and the length of time which was required to buy the necessary land is the most typical illus¬ tration of character of the whole transformation. In 1901 Pifth Avenue had for flfteen years been changing slowly from a thoroughfare which was given up to expensive residences to ■one which was given up to the best class of retail trade; but up to that time the change had not been particularly profitable to the owners of real estate on Fifth Avenue. The new stores on the avenue did not do very much more than hold their own, and the price of real estate remained about where it was in 1S85, when Fifth Avenue was still for the most part the abiding place of wealthy people. The transformation did not have any very active effect on the value of property until after 1901, In that and the following years it was suddenly realized that New York was becoming more than ever the city of the rich and that more money than ever was to be made by catering to the needs of the wealthy people who spent part of their time in the ctty. A sudden demand for locations on Fifth Avenue set in. The prices of property and the rental value of shops began to rise rapidly, and one important retail firm after anotber, which had formerly been located south of Twenty-third Street, secured sites on the avenue. This process has continued ever since, until at the present time we believe that for the mile and over between Twenty-sixth and Porty-eighth streets, which includes the part of the avenue devoted to the retail trade, a higher level of real estate values prevails thau it does over any similarly long stretch of street frontage in the world. No single man in New York City anticipated the meaning of this transformation and did more to accelerate it than Benjamin Altman. Acting under the best advice he could get as to real estate values, he began his purchases a nnmber of years ago with the corner of Thirty-third Street and Pifth Avenue and several adjoining houses. At first he proceeded very slowly, perhaps too slowly; but towards the end he bought hard and fast, and the vigor of his purchases advanced the value of property on the block he wanted to such a high level that many people began to wonder whether it could pay him to purchase his land at such a heavy cost. But Mr. Altman knew what lie was about, and large as were the prices he paid, they were smaller than the existing level of real estate values on the beat parts of Fifth Avenue and of Thirty-fourth Street. The con¬ sequence is that Mr. Altman not only piled together a piece of property which is worth more than he paid for it, but he ob¬ tained absolutely the best site in the city for his new store, and one which cannot possibly be duplicated by any of his competi¬ tors. -Tlie-value of real estate on FiftH Avenue at the present