Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 90, no. 2317]: August 10, 1912

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AUGUST 10, 1912 CHANGING CHARACTER OF BROOKLYN HEIGHTS Most of the Old Families Have Departed from the Section, While Apartment Hotels and Multi-Family Houses Will Undoubtedly Determine its New Character—Subway Is a Factor THE announcement a few weeks ago by Louis Bossert, the prominent lumber merchant who built and owns tlie Hotel Bossert on Brooklyn Hei.ghts, tliat he contemplates tlie enlargement of that building to twice its present size tends to confirm the oft expressed opinion that the Heights section is destined to be a zone of fine apartment hotels and apartment houses generally; for The Hotel Bossert is essentially a place of residence eig'ht months of tlie year for some ot the best people in Brooklyn. Many of the fine old mansions of this part of the borough that were the homes of men famous in the professions, in commerce and in flnance have become boarding houses of the bet¬ ter kind; but Brooklyn Heights is too fine and too accessible a part ot Brooklyn to continue in the condition it is in now. Many of the rentals do not bring the proper return on the investment and the Heights has during the last decade been in the transition state from a section of the best private homes to a section of modern buildings that are more worth came determined as a fine home section many wealthy families from Brooklyn Heights removed there, while others found fine new homes in the rich subur¬ ban colonies in New Jersey and West¬ chester. At any rate many of the fami¬ lies that made The Heights famous have gone. The operation of the subway between Manhattan and Brooklyn was a strong factor in making The Heights more metropolitan In character, while the operation of the Montague street cars across Brooklyn Bridge has been another contributing force. As a result of better IrafBc facilities a great many private dwellings in Montague and adjacent streets have 'been remodeled into bachelor apartment houses or buildings with small suites for married people. They bring a far better return on the m.ni. y. The last decade has witnessed a .'omiil.te struc¬ tural change in the Ai.'iit.igii.- sir.ii block (from Clinton to Iltnr\- sti.-.ts. The block in Joralemon sti''''t. Iietw.-.n ('.ant and Clinton streets, is fast ihaiit;ing iiib. architects, real estate men and insurance agencies. Subseijuently the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company erected a twelve- story office building on the other end ot the block, at the northeast corner of Remsen and Clinton streets; and this sealed the late of the block for business purposes. No. 96 Clinton street, an old mansion on the opposite corner of Rem¬ sen street, has been captured by trade. The Hamilton Club is on another corner; and it is one of Brooklyn's famous insti¬ tutions. Vlany Clubs on Heights. It is safe to say. too, that the section of Brooklyn Heights contiguous to Clin¬ ton street, imay yet become a centre ot social and club life in Brooklyn. Beside the Hamilton Club there is already es¬ tablished in the neighborhood the Brook¬ lyn Club, the large new home of the (^rescent Club and the Long Island His¬ torical Society; and, across the way is the huge building of the Brooklyn Sav¬ ings Bank, which finds the neighborhood suitable for banking purposes. MONTAGUS STREET. AT HICKS STREET. VIEW OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS. while. When the Lows, the Prentices, the Bowens, the Claflins and other famous families abandoned this part of the city the turn in the tide of its status began. The massive old Horace B. Claflin mansion is now a boarding house; the picturesque old home of Henry C. Bowen has been superseded by large apartment houses and Columbia Heights, the street forming the western edge of Bi.-i'iklyn Heights, has succumbed to the invasion of various influences that are detrimental to fine private house occupancy. The Xew Influences. Probably the Brooklyn Bridge had something to do with the changed char¬ acter of The Heights. Previous to its use Wall Street Ferry, at the foot of The Heights, was the great traffic artery (be¬ tween it and New York, Increased facili¬ ties that the bridge .presented brought into the section a varied class of people. The opening of the Hotel St. George and its success was an entering wedge. Then followed a few apartment hotels such as the Touraine, the Margaret and the Standish Arms; and even before their ad¬ vent some large apartment houses were 'built on lower Montague street. And as the Upper West Side in Manhattan be- a business section. A tall ollKe building, for occupancy by physicians, was built on this block about two years ago; and since that time other distinct changes have been wrought. The building of the sub¬ way under Joralemon street and the dam¬ age to property interests as a result tend¬ ed to drive residents away from the thor¬ oughfare and redetermine its character. Much property on Brooklyn Heights has been held in a residential state for a long time or until the subway problem was settled. Owners ha\'e been waiting to see just what the Public Service Com¬ mission and the Board of Estimate would do regarding subway routes; and now that tlie routes are decided upon and Brooklyn is assured of subway exten¬ sions The Heights will undoubtedly un¬ dergo the further changes predicted for it. The block on Remsen street, from Court street to Clinton street, has shown a marked influx of business during the last flve years. The concessions to trade be¬ gan here when the Title Guarantee & Trust Company bought several brown¬ stone front dwellings and erected on the combined site a large anne.x to its Brook¬ lyn office. Then followed the alteration of other houses into parlor and basement stores and the rental of upper floors to For fifty years Brooklyn Heights had a family tone characteristic of Concord. Mass., and other choice New England communities. Brooklyn derived its fame as "The City of Churches" from this part of its territory. Within its confines are Plymouth Church, made famous by Beecher; the Church of the Pilgrims, where Storrs preached; the Holy Trinity, where Hall attracted great congregations, and, the famous Dutch Reiformed Church of The Heights. So changed has the character of Brooklyn Heights become that these churches now draw their con¬ gregations from all parts of Bi.i.dchii: and, the Rev. Newell Dwight iliilis, Beecher's successor, is seeking to iestor,> interest in The Heights sectini—where Beecher lived—by pruph.-syiug th.' .erec¬ tion of a memorial building to tli.- great divine in which will be reli.s associated with his career; and. it is e\.ii jir.iposed to entomb his body in the building. But. it is idle to attempt to preserve the original character of Brooklyn Heights. The great churches mentioned may re¬ main, but the character of population and of buildings on The Heights will be different. The area is too near Manhat¬ tan to be utilized for other than a more dense population than Is there now.