Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 94, no. 2427: Articles]: September 19, 1914

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REAL ESTATE BUILDERS AND NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 19, 1914 PRINTING TRADES FORM UPTOWN CENTERS Publishers, Advertising Agencies and Supply Houses Locate Along Line of Subway—New Structures Erected For Their Specific Occupancy BY FENIMORE C. GOODE. XE of the most important trade movements of recent years is the shifting of the printing, publishing and allied trades from the old district in and about Newspaper Row to new^ locations further uptown. This movement has not attracted much attention because it has proceeded steadily and unobtrusively and because popular interest has been focused on the spectacular changes along Fourth ave¬ nue and Fifth avenue and in the Twen¬ ties and Thirties adjacent to these thor¬ oughfares. Firms Lease Large Space. Nevertheless a surprising amount of space has been taken by the printing and allied trades in the uptown district. The writer, for instance, has leased more than 300,000 square feet of floor space in the last eight months to firms engaged in the graphic arts. And this is in heavy type buildings alone, where the actual work of preparing printed matter is done. Aside from this, a great deal of space has been rented to pub¬ lishers, advertising agents and printers' supply houses for offices and show¬ rooms. The publishers, advertising agencies and supply houses have elected to locate along the line of the subway, in new office and loft buildings on Fourth, Fifth and Madison avenues. Broadway and side streets between 34th and 48th streets. In this district lofts rent for 50 cents to one dollar per square foot and offices bring from 11.50 to S3.00 per square foot. Two Centers Established. The printers, bookbinders, lithograph¬ ers, electrotypers and photo engravers have established two new centers where buildings for their special accommoda¬ tion have been erected. One of the cen¬ ters is Lafayette street in the neighbor¬ hood of Canal street. The other is the district between 23d and 42d streets, 7th and llth avenues. Reasons for the migration are various. In the first place, the demand for books. magazines and advertising matter in printed form has increased in propor¬ tion to the increase in population and the growth of trade and industry in New York City. In addition to this normal growth the printing trades have expanded by reason of the fact that an ever increasing amount of out-of-town work is being done by New York firms. At the present time at least one-half the output of printed matter in the United States comes from Manhattan Island. Furthermore, the invention of new ma¬ chinery with labor and time-saving de¬ vices has necessitated the acquisition ot larger quarters in specially constructed buildings by firms who keep abreast of the times. Also, when their big cus¬ tomers moved uptow^n the printers were forced to follow suit in order to hold their trade. In the old days most of the printers were located in Pearl, William, Rose and Vandewater streets, to the north of the Brooklyn Bridge, and in Frankfort, FKNIMORE C. GOODE. Ferr)-, Beekman and Fulton steets south of the Bridge. A few were to be found west of Broadway in Chambers, Warren, Murray and \'esey streets, Park Place and West Broadwa}-. Downtown Concerns. In either location they were handi¬ capped by narrow, crooked, congested streets which rendered trucking difficult and expensive. The buildings they oc¬ cupied were low ceilinged, dark and poorly ventilated. Elevator service was of the crudest sort, floors were over¬ loaded to a dangerous degree and out¬ put was limited by lack of heat and ade¬ quate power, A few buildings of heavy construction erected for the printing trades twenty years ago brought high rents and were always well filled until the uptown mi¬ gration began. These buildings included the Scott and Bowne building at Pearl and New Chambers streets, the Munroe buildings in Rose and Vandewater streets, the Rhinelander buildings at Duane, William and Rose streets, the Metropolitan Realty building overlook¬ ing the Brooklyn Bridge and the Ex¬ celsior Power Companj^ building in Gold street. Construction a Decade Ago. Eight or ten years ago several new buildings were erected which compare favorably with present day structures. These include the Schieren and Chapel Court buildings at Ferry and Cliflt streets, the Healy building at Gold and Ferry streets, the Black building at Wil¬ liam and Frankfort streets and the Hal¬ lenbeck building at Park and Pearl streets; all of these structures (except the Hallenbeck building, which will be taken by the city to make way for the new court house) are filled with tenants and show good returns. Two or three 3^ears ago the value of Lafayette street for printing trades l)uildings became apparent. It had two great advantages over all other north and south thoroughfares. In the first place it was wide enough for six rows '->f trucks to travel abreast and yet was not obstructed by trolley or elevated. In the second place it was the route fol¬ lowed by the Interboro Subway which I'rought all points along its length within a few minutes of important up¬ town and downtown centers. Paper Supply Houses Move. Paper supply houses were quick to take advantage of this and a number of leading firms to-day are located along or just off Lafayette street. About two years ago the Inverness building was erected at Lafayette and Howard streets and all the lofts rented to firms in the printing trades. This year the Brad- street Company finished a twelve-story building on land purchased at the north¬ west corner of Lafayette and Howard streets. All the space in the building outside of that occupied by Bradstreet's has been leased with the exception of a part of one floor. Adjoining the Brad- street is the twelve-story Aberdeen building standing on a 100-foot plot and finished last spring. Most of the space in this structure is occupied by the print¬ ing trades. A few blocks below the Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford Print¬ ing Company is erecting a sixteen-story printing house with a plot area of 19,000 square feet. These buildings are popu¬ lar with printing firms that have as cus¬ tomers city departments, lawyers, rail¬ roads, the cotton and white goods trades and financial interests. Reasons for Change. Several reasons account for the loca¬ tion of the uptown printers in the dis¬ trict lying between 23d and 42d streets. Seventh and Twelfth avenues. Firstly, land could be purchased at $500 to $2,000 a front foot and plottage was not difficult to assemble. Secondly, the streets were broad and the avenues comparatively unobstructed. Thirdly, there were two elevated lines and several trolleys sup¬ plying good transit, and there was the prospect of the Seventh avenue subway now under construction. Furthermore, the new postoffice, the Pennsylvania Railroad station improvements and the West Side docks attracted firms who would profit by their proximity. The uptown district is in reality made up of two districts. Between Seventh and Eighth avenues are located the firms who are willing to pay a premium for space close to the business centers of Fifth avenue. Broadway, 34th and 42d streets, or are forced to be within easy walking distance of certain large cus¬ tomers. West of Ninth avenue are other firms whose business does not justify the rents obtained near Seventh avenue and who find that any location is satisfactory as long as it is reason¬ ably accessible. Among the first comers were the Fed¬ eral Printing Company and the Mc¬ Graw Hill Book Company, These firms erected an eleven-story building in 39th