New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-04
BOOM IN REAL ESTATE.
REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT IN WEST
SIDE SECTION OF CITY.

PROSPECTS OF RAPID TRANSIT FAcToR-MANY
TRANSACTIONS RECORDED IN A usU-
ALLY DULL SEASON.
Although the beginning of May Is ordinarily
the beginning of dull times In the realty neio'
the transactions reported in The Tribune In tho
present week indicate that 1t will prove an ex-
csption TO the general rule this year In all de-
partments Of the real estate business there mas
been unusual activity. Dwelling houses nave
changed hands, fiat and apartment houses have
been bought and sold. new leases are being
made and vacant lots are passing from the III
weston to the builder in regular sequence But
in no section Of the city is the steady movement
more noticeable than on the West Side. to which
attention seems to have been directed more
forcbly than at any previous period In the city 5
history II was only natural after business IN
general had resumed a normal tone, that the
thought or building should have suggested ITSELF
The workingman obliged TO live for time III 'ic
dinsy squalor OF cheap tenement-house ionss
for the time TO come when he may invest Ills
small savings in a little home that shall oelons
to him and his for all time. No better liustra-
t,on Of sturdy Americanism is to be found than
that of the small houses built for the WORKING
man and sold to him on easy terms. The fact
a
eel Of the community and that it thrives is the
best kind Of evidence that the worklngmah Is
not the disconnected. disgruntled person that ne
&c nainted TO be by agitators and by those whose
IDEAS Of right and wrong are coored by per-
canal rancor due to their own failure in lfe
7, ,s the fact that the real working classes are
ENGAGED in something more in portant to their
own welfare that makes such Improvements as
those noticeable in the extreme parts or the
West Side possible.
The visitor to Washington Heights. Morning
aide and University Heights. and the extreme
northern part OF the city hears the noise OF
hammers. the creaking Of derricks and sees
activity on all sides Long rows Of picturesque
dwelling houses have taken the place of acres OF
vacant land, and the natural question. what
accounts for the changes?'' is answered by the
words. Grit and thrift" The home instinct
has become something more-it has developed
into a determination to own and possess. and
has made possible such improvements as exist
RAPID TRANSIT A FACTOR,
with the introduction of rapid transit. which
no longer seems an impropability. even greater
impetus will be given to the development OF the
upper West Side. and the supplementary means
of transit with the improved methods which are
NOW being introduced rapidly will do their share
for the general good
-Sonething has already been said about the
remarkable movement which is noticed in that
section lying west OF Central Park and extend
nng northward from Fifty-ninth-st.. but many
ARTICLES ON the same subject would leave the half
untold. Every day the real estate columns enron
lsc,a news of sales and buildings contemplated,
ana thu list Of improvements has all the aspect
OF an endless chain The brokers who were
he
prove are now happy The end of the season
will and them with fair balance on the right
side Of the ledger Spectators and builders
with their eyes wide open see the limits OF AZ
+a,nable ground in the West Side section De-
coming narrower. and they are losing no 'hIle
in securing such property as their judgment 'eils
them is desirable for their clients In cohse-
ouence the period of active dealing has become
longer. and it will probably not cease until the
simmer exodus has put an end to business gen.
orally.
SOME OF THE SALES RECORDED.
The chsracter OF the transactions OF the last
Pew days is extremely interesting particularly
when one remembers the kind Of business tha'
is ordinarily reported at this season. Here are
several characteristic sales reported yesterday:
Joseph A. Farley has bought from Edward
Oppenheimer the plot S3x10O11 on the north
side OF One hundred- and sixth-st, 1oO feet east
of Riverside Drive, and adjoining the plot
SCHOOL, which he bought on March 81. On
the whole seven lots Mr.. Farley Will erect four
%, two 221. one 20 and one 10 foot houses which
will occupy the entire block except the Broad
way and Riverside corners.
Bernard Smyth & Sons have sold to ]. Allen
Townsend, for the New-York Investment and
improvement Company. two lots, 5Ox1O011. on
afda of his feet
west Of West End-ave.
H. Z. Hartwell sold TO Charles E. Beardsley,
of Brooklyn, the six private dwelling houses at
the southwest corner OF West End-ave. and
Seventy -hrst-st. being No. 800 TO 237 West
End-ave. and No 304 West Seventy-frst-st
Other recent transactions tell the same story.
On April q Horace S. Ely g. Co. reported that
they had sold for the estate Of Augustus Whit
ing to Oppenheimer & Hamerschlag twenty lots
in Riverside Drive between One hundred and
fifth and One-hundred- and sixth SITS The same
day McVickar & Co. closed a deal for Samuel
c. Bayne. in Riverside Drive. involving plot
4l.1x1OO feet. situated 80 feet north of One
hundred and seventh-st The buyer. Adolpn
Openhym. will have fine home built on the
ground from plans by H. Ives Smith and p. NJ.
Stewart. who have also bought similar plot
adjoining Mr.. Openhym's purchase. On this they
will also erect fine detached dwelling house.
Mr.. Bayne. the seller of the lots. whose house
AZ One hundred and eighth-st. is one of the
ornaments Of the Drive, made stipulations which
promise mucn for the character of the improve
mtnts, and with the possibility of another fine
dwelling house at the northeast corner Of One
hundred and seventh-st the block promises to
rival any In the city.
AS if the announcement of the contemplated
improvements did not make up sufficiently
potable budget. the news Of that day included
the sale by Francis NJ. Lencks, Of the southeast
corner OF Broadway and Eighty second-st.. at a
reported price of $4,000 to a builder who will
also improve the property couple Of days
previously L. J. Phillips & Co sold the block
front on Broadway between Eighty-ffth and
Ttohf cfxth Sfc for hOut o,lt -
since been resold at profit Another interest
ing sale was that OF Richard V. Harnett & Co.
for James Livingston TO Joseph Guinet of Nos.
S62. S64. 500 and SOS West End-ave. between
One hundred -and-second and One hundred and
third SITS. These four-story American base
ment houses. and the price paid by the buyer
was S15OOOO each