New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-11
NO UNION CLUB SITE FOUND.
! THE COMMITTEE WILL PROBABLA RESl"N
,,xr1JuooD OF AN EARLY MEETING OF THE
ENTIRE ORGANIZATION TO HEAR THE
REPORT OF FAILURE.

ENTIRE ORGANIZATION TO HEAR THE
REPORT OF FAILURE.
Announcement will be made before long. in
ALL proba bility OF a special meeting OF the ,hion
Club. called to receive the designations Of the
members Of the Site Committee. TINS com
mittee was appointed in accordance with reso-
luton passed by the club in April 1891. In the
two years and six months of its existence IL
has in spite of all the hard work of its men,
bcrs accomplish ID nothing. The club is now as
far as ever from removing further up Fifth-ave;
in fact just at present, 1t seems further than
ever from the accomplishment of this cherished
design of the majority of the membership.
The site Committee feels discouraged, not
only because 1t has been able to do no'hihg' Dul
because there is no apparent prospect thd' !" WI"
be able to make any progress in the immediate
future II has gone over every foot OF ground
in Fifth-ave from Thhty-forrth-st. to the
Park without finding an available plot. Al one
time Il might have been able to lease site Tor
a clubhouse; it was. in fact. considering the
moi theast corner of Fifth-ave and Fifty y-eighth'
St. which belongs to the estate Of Mrs. Elbridgc
T. Geriy's father This could not be bought
but it might be leased for a long tenn of years
with the privilege Of renewal
The club at meeting however. voted that
the committee should buy a site and not lease
one This action seems TO have been taken
for sentimental reasons for land might nave
been rented for about Az per cent OF its value
plus the taxes, while II ii were bought out
right the club would have to pay per
cent on the mortgage placed on the clubhouse
At any rate, the committee was enectuaily
hammered by this restriction. and has been
able to make no progress since that time
From the first the committee has cast its
eyes longingly the northwest corner OF
Fifth-ave and Fifty-fourth-st., which forms
part of the ST Luke's Hospital property This
was by all odds the most favorable site TO
be found 1t just far enough uptown. ana
not too far II was the southwest corner
which is the most desirable one In the eyes
Of clubmen Besides. the land was on the
market as the hospital had decided to move
to Morningside Heights. The trustees Of the
hosnital wanted So 800 900 for their plot of
thirtv-two city lots but asked the Union club
$500 900 for eight of them. four in the avenue
and four In Fifty-fourth-st. This price was
considered too high.
When It was announced last June that the
hospital property had been sold. the site COM
mittee thought that II might arrange with the
purchasers to take the eight lots off their hahds.
The committee. however. Ike the rest oi the
public has not learned who the men are VINO
have bought the land. An early report declared
that John y. Rockefeller was the new
owner and the committee conceived the 1dea
that he had bought the property chiefly To Keep
the club from getting any OF It, lie hVeS az
M West Fifty-fourth-st.. opposite the lo's
wanted by the committee. and no doubt wouid
consider his home less pleasant II IL stood across
the street from a big clubhouse.
The report that Mr.. Rockefeller was the pur-
cbaser has been denied however. Nevertheless
tho committee has reason for supposing that
men who are interested in keeping the Union
CIub from FYfty-fourth-st. and Ffth-tNe are
concerned in the transaction. If the purchasing
syndicate were merely engaged In real estate
speculation, II would long ago have offered inc
club tn, land it wants. The club could pay more
for the property than any one else. In all prop
ability; it might even pay Tor the eght lots
resrIv one-third of what the thirtytwo lots cost.
Another consideration is that the price paid.
81 400 900, is regarded by real estate men as eX-
cessive West Fifty-flfth-st. Is stable street.
and land in 1t is worth much less than in Fifty
fourth-st The fact that the amount paid was
undulv large Is a further indication that the
nroperty was bought for other than Speculative
nurposes a good many wealthy men lVe at or
near Fifty-fourth-st and F1fth-avc. VINO wouio
nnouestionably pay "A round sum To keep the
club away from there. Their objections may
he largely matter of sentiment but the inniedi-
ato upiElDOrhOOd "a
,nea sIre Objectionable. The side street Is always
fuII of cabs men are continually passing in ana
aut or standing at the windows, and the privacy
of the vicinity of the spot rs lhVaded-at leas'
.o tho surrounding houscholderS declare.
So there the Union Club site Committee
stands II has a hope Of getting the northwest
corner OF Thrty-nnth-st.' opposite the ui'9n
Inauua Club where the widow Of John ID.
Wendell lives and adjoining which Is a vacant
LOT This would hardly be far enough uptown
for an ideal site but 1t would be good deal
rur,ber IN than the present house at Twenty
6rst ct There is however, no Immediate chance
of getting this. The committee has exhausted
its resources and sees nothing more II can DO.
n hos moi held n meeting for months. although
individual members have done some WORK In
that time Something unexpected may happen,
hut inst now the committeeman see nothing FOR
them IA do but to resign. There Is every likeii-
hood that they will agree on this step at their
next meeting.