Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 92, no. 2373]: September 6, 1913

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REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 6, 1913 I WHERE MONEY CAN BE MADE IN REAL ESTATE Opportunities at Bedford Park and Beyond Where New Rapid Transit Facili- ■ ties Are Coming—A Prediction That Jerome Avenue Line Will Double Values. | liliiiiliiiiiMiliilliiiiiillMillllllll^^^^^^^^^^ MORE than ever before New York City real estate is attracting in¬ vestments from distant cities. The ti¬ tle to much of our local property has always been in the possession of per¬ sons residing elsewhere, and millions of dollars' worth of New York City mortgages are distributed over the country. Development companies have also in recent years been offering Long Island lots for sale in other cities. But it is only -within a year or t-wo that the general city broker and auctioneer has begun to consider the whole group of North .\tlantic States as his field. two will be connected by a surface line on Gun Hill road, which Avill begin at Broadway and 242d street and run across the borougli to City Island. Will Open Up Ne-w Territory. These new rapid transit lines will work a marvelous change in the fine ter¬ ritory bounded by Bronx Park on the east, Jerome Park Reservoir on the west Mosholu Parkway on the south and Woodlawn Cemetery on the north, A beautiful residential country with refined surroundings, it has been only sparsely settled as yet or quite neglected. With make them undesirable for residential purposes for the time being. Always it should be remembered that the one basis of growth here must be residential de¬ sirability, that the territory as a whole appeals to families of position and taste, and that until they are satisfied with conditions there can be no rapidity of growth. Great Quest for Private Dwellings and Apartments. .\s regards more particularly the Bed¬ ford Park section, there is said to be a pressing inquiry for brick dw-ellings such BEDFORD PARK BOULEVARD IS BROAD AND BEAUTIFULLY SHADED. SOUTH SIDE OF MOSHOLU PARKWAY. A week ago a Pittsburgh newspaper contained a large advertisement of properties for sale in the Bedford Park section of this city, inserted at the or¬ der of a local broker. By this broker the Record and Guide was informed this week that investors in other cities are carefully studying New York City real estate. They have learned that in nor¬ mal times they can get quicker results in New York than anywhere else. Of¬ tentimes they find they can borrow after five years the full amount paid for the property. Bedford Park and the lands beyond are particularly well situated to get the benefit coming both from the construc¬ tion of the Dual System of subways and the extensions scheduled for the ele¬ vated roads. The East Side elevated lines now terminate at Bedford Park but will be carried north through Webster avenue and Gun Hill road to a junction with the proposed line on White Plains road, which will be one of the two branches of the Lexington avenue sub¬ way line, the other branch running up Jerome avenue to Woodlawn road. The only a trolley-car service it has been too inaccessible from business centers. Bedford Park proper, with its shaded streets and lawns, will also be greatly advantaged by the new transit lines and extensions, especially by the Jerorne ave¬ nue line, which will connect not only with the Lexington avenue subway but also with the Sixth and Ninth avenue elevated. "We figure that values along the Grand Boulevard and Concourse will double the moment the structural mate¬ rial is laid by the roadside," said Mr, John O'Hara, local real estate agent and broker. Real estate quotations in some sec¬ tions of the city have in the past fully anticipated great transit improvements, but peculiar conditions and forces have had a retarding effect on values in places within the great territory of the West Bron.x north of the Kingsbridge road. For years neighborhoods have been physically torn up for one reason or another; they have been invaded tempo¬ rarily by unassimilated foreign laborers, and various things have occurred to as contain nine or ten rooms, purchas¬ able for eight to nine thousand dollars, and on which a mortgage of five thou¬ sand or a little more can be secured. This inquiry constitutes a real opportun¬ ity for builders. .'Mso there is a strong inquiry for five- room apartments rentable at $5.50 a room. Inasmuch as suitable building sites can be had for three thousand dol¬ lars a lot, this is not unreasonable to expect. For the most part Bedford Park is built up of detached frame cot¬ tages. Only a few brick rows have ap¬ peared so far. Typical Valuations. Real estate experts anticipate that in the coming speculative movement prop¬ erty along the Concourse, on Moshoiu parkway and in the neighborhood of the Montefiore Home, will be prominent. For years past investors have been quiet¬ ly securing strategical locations and holding them for the inevitable results to follow the advent of the Dual System of subways and elevated road extensions. Tha four corners of Bedford Park Boulevard and Webster avenue are an