Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 93, no. 2414: Articles]: June 20, 1914

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1120 RECORD AND GUIDE Juiie 20, 1914 illlilliilllEillllllll illllllliEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I.....|in!li|||i9lllllllllilll.......IlilllBilllllliH^^^......i:.......llJllia CURRENT BUILDING OPERATIONS NOTABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN BROOKLYN About $2,000,000 Expended in Financial and Shopping Districts—New Clubs, Theatres and Mercantile Structures Enhance Appearance of Entire Section. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii llllilJIIHIIiillllllH iiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii lllliililiiiliiillllliilillligilillllllli DURI.NC the last few months an amount of money tolalin.u; over two million dollars has l)ecn expended in tlie improvement of Brooklyn's shop¬ ping and financial districts, and addi¬ tional improvements in the form of new liuildings and improvements to existing structures are contemplated which will no doubt reach a like amount. In the section known as the "shopping district," which includes lower Fulton street and the adjacent streets from Borough Hall to Flatbush avenue, are found department stores which vie in equipment and conveniences with all but the newest of Manhattan's world-re¬ nowned department stores. Specialty shops for gowns, suits, lingerie, milli¬ nery, boots and sundries, where only the price is different, and that largely in favor of local shoppers who are not required to pay Fifth avenue prices. Theatres, while not so numerous as on Broadway, still with every convenience. place, planned liy H. ^'an Beuren Mc¬ Gonigle, and which is being erected by the Tower Construction Company. The Brooklvn University Club is plan¬ ning to erect a building in the neighbor¬ hood of Lafayette avenue and South ( )xford street, the plans for which will be prepared by Ludlow & Peabody, ar¬ chitects. This operation is not definite at the present time, although the club's building conimittee is active. The Apollo Club, Brooklyn's foremost mu¬ sical society, nurchased the property at the corner of Greene and Carlton ave¬ nues and are altering the two old build¬ ings and erecting an extensive addition, for clubhouse purposes. While some of these buildings seem to be on the front¬ iers of the districts in question, they will have a very direct interest upon the life and growth of the sections. Along Fulton street many improve¬ ments to buildings have been made, and numerous others are contemplated. Op¬ penheim, Collins & Co. are having plans Livingston street, which formerly was only known as the back door of Fulton street's department stores, has become an avenue of high-class shops and of¬ fices. The newest project for this street is the theatre to lie erected by Frank A. Keeney, at a cost of $200,000, from plans by William E. Lehman, architect, of Newark, N. J. This building will oc¬ cupy a plot 164x187 feet in Schermer¬ horn street, with an entrance in Liv¬ ingston street, about opposite the pres¬ ent Montauk Theatre. This theatre will have a seating capacity of 2,450 people. John H. Parker Company, New York City, has recently received the general contract for its construction. In the heart of the financial and ofiice building section, further to the east of the shopping district, the Arbuckie Me¬ morial Building .for Plymouth church is being erected at the northeast corner of Orange and Hicks streets, at a cost of $100,000. William Kennedy Con¬ struction Company, 215 Montague street, VIEW OP LOWER BROOKLYN, FROM SMITH, GRAY & CO.'S TOWER. and booking the best productions at rates generally lower than Manhattan prices. This section during the last few months has shown a decided activity in real estate transactions and along build¬ ing lines. New projects have been com¬ pleted in the office building and finan¬ cial sections whose success for years to come is assured, and many buildings which will benefit these sections are now in course of construction or con¬ templated. That lower Brooklyn is alive to its opportunities can best be shown by cit¬ ing briefly a few of the newly completed buildings and others contemplated for this section. The Terminal Building, at the south¬ west corner of Court and Joralemon streets, erected at a cost of more than half a million dollars by the John H. Parker Company, 315 Fourth avenue, New York City, is twelve stories in height and is the most modern and completely equipped office building in the borough. It is the new home of the Nassau National Bank and the Brook¬ lyn League. The Young Women's Chris¬ tian Association Building, recently com¬ pleted, at the cost of $500,000, at the corner of Schermerhorn and Nevins streets. The new clubhouse for the Brooklyn lodge of Elks, now under con¬ struction in the west side of South Ox¬ ford street, 125 feet south of Hanson prepared by Buchman & Fox, architects, for the erection of a modern department store, five or six stories in height. This building will be located at 481 to 485 Fulton street, 396 to 402 Bridge street, running through to 147 to 151 Lawrence street, and will be thoroughly complete and modern in its appointments. Julius Brody, manufacturer and dealer in wom¬ en's wear, purchased 446 to 448 Fulton street and contemplates extensive im¬ provements to the building for his own occupancy. The old Central Branch of the Y. M. C. A. property, with a frontage in Ful¬ ton street running through from Han¬ over place to Bond street, and covering an area of 20,000 square feet, has been sold to Jason S. Bailey of Boston, man¬ ufacturer of articles for five and ten-cent stores. Parfitt Brothers, architects, will prepare plans for extensive improve¬ ments to this property, altering it into lofts and stores. The new Central Branch of the Y. M. C. A., which will be located in Hanson place, from Fort Green place to South Elliott street, and to cost in the neighborhood of $1,000,- 000, will be the last word in convenience and equipment for buildings of this type. Trowbridge & Ackerman, architects, 62 West 45th street, Manhattan, have pre¬ pared the plans, and the Whitney Com¬ pany, 1 Liberty street, has the gen¬ eral contract for construction of the building. has the contract for this work. At the northeast corner of Montague street, through to Clinton and Pierrepont streets, the new home of the Brooklyn Trust Company will be erected. Plans are being prepared by York & Sawyr, architects, 50 East 41st street. New York City, and ' the contractors for general construction are Marc Eidlitz & Son, 30 East 41st street. Two or three years ago the Brooklyn Daily Eagle started a campaign, the central idea of which was to "Boost Brooklyn" for the purpose of making it a better, brighter and bigger borough. The campaign was taken up by other Brooklyn papers, civic and trade asso¬ ciations, and much publicity was given to the movement. For a while consid¬ erable interest was taken in the project, and through the co-operation of the workers results became apparent. The residents of Brooklyn began to take notice that their borough was a real place, after all, and that it was not im¬ possible to receive the same value for their money that they obtained else¬ where, no matter whether the money was spent for the necessities of life or upon luxuries and recreation. Interest is lost in most movements of this kind, sooner or later, however, and Brook¬ lyn's boost idea was no exception; but the results of the short campaign can readily be noticed and will be more apparent as time wears on.