New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-03
FINE HOMES OF WEST SIDE.
AMY PLANS FOR HIGH-cLAss HOUSES
FILED RECENTLY.
-,crs AND FIGURES OF THD PAST AND PRESENT

70
- ,oses; ana clear suns though scarcely felt:
"a sroves II unharmonious. yet secure
,,~orn Glamour and whose very silence charms;
-, \. preferred TO smoke. 10 the eclipse
rss, metropolitan volcanoes make
,r,ose Stygian threats breathe darkness all long;
"a 20 the stir Of commerce.. driving slow,
I,a Wondering loud. with his ten thousand wheeisY
The poets lines suggest themselves naturally
o. one who has turned from the crowded streets
., the city into that region Of light and color
,bs beautiful West Side Indeed New York
,be Beautiful would seem to be the most ap-
rropriate term by which to designate this sec
,,on OF the city, whose broad streets with costly
improvements vie in beauty with any in the
world II is easily within the memory of New
york citizens when the West Side presented all
most an unbroken front OF wooded land The
changes that have come over its face have been
rsmarkabe alike in character and In rapidity OF
accomplishment
As late as 1879 the building improvements on
m. West Side between Fifty-ninth and One
, hundred-and-tenth SITS. represented an aggre-
I cate Of less than S3,0O0000 In the laying
nut Of the Boulevard. Morningside Park.
riverside Park and Riverside Drive some
twenty years before an impetus was given
IN speculation in this neighborhood that
for time sent prices UP. The wilderness
began to take on tho aspect of a newer city
Streets and roads were planned. and the land
scapes began TO be dotted with piles of brick
and mortar In 1873 the panic began and from
that time there was a gradual decline in
values until 1879, when the limit was reached.
The city had not yet attained the growth which
made West Side property necessity, and early
investors had made the mistake Of improving
their lots with a cheap class Of property. The
destiny Of the West Side lay in something better
than these. Here was a region surrounded on
all sides with natural beauty. and Offering every
advantage for the building of beautiful homes
and substantial. handsome improvements 1t Is
difficult to understand how early buyers could
have made the errors they did.
With the completion OF the elevated railroad
TO Harlem in 1879 the development Of the West
Side began anew. and the trend Of Improvement
was more natural and consequently Of more
promising character An examination of the
records shows that on December 30. 1877, Ed
ward Clark took title to the tract in Central
Park West, between Seventy-second and Sew
enty-thrd- SITS. for a consideration Of S2SO.OOO.
This plot. 2044 by 376 feet, containing thirty
lots is the site of the Dakota apartment-house.
and its value to-day is considerably more than
81, 100000. The Dakota was finished in 1883.
From then on a vigorous movement set in. and
continued increasingly until the period Of de-
preston in 1892. Persons who are in the habit
Of forming hasty conclusions have attempted
10 point out at times that building operations
on the upper West Side were overdone. Every
thing goes to prove that this is a fallacy. The
Improvement of this section has been natural
development following in the wake of the city's
needs.
In the early period of this sections history the
principal demand for lots costing from
5000 to $4,000 and in some places as little as
$500 was paid. The improvements took the
form Of small dwelling houses. At the period
1ust preceding 1892 few lots could be had for
less than double the amounts mentioned, and
the more desirable corners were held as high as
100000 and $4,000. With every year building
operations increased. The advanced price of the
land made 1t less desirable for cheap buildings
The period OF depression in 1893 found num-
Der of builders with too many houses on their
hands but the setback to improved properties
was only temporary. No decline in vacant lots
was apparent and the return to normal condi-
tions amply justified the confidence OF those who
believed in the future Of the section. The future
has become the present. and the value of West
Side property rests upon foundation OF solid
worth. In one respect there has been an abso-
cnanRe-tne
tenement houses is past The little property
still remaining is being acquired rapidly, and
the announcements made point to improvements
of high class.
AS an example Of what Is being done for this
part OF the city, the home which Mrs. Clark is
having built at Eighty nnth-st. and Riverside
Drive may be cited. 1t is to be Colonial In style
and MAGNIFICENT. Another fine house in River
side Drive near One hundred and hfth-st is 10
be the home Of Mr.. Holden. Of the Delaware.
and Western Railroad.
These are only suggestions Of what is being
done The following list includes number OF
the improvements for which plans have been
fled since the first Of the year. and they Illus
trate more forcibly than anything else all that
has been said:
A nine and eleven story apartnent-house, at
Central Park West and Seventieth-st, noT nd
corner for Stein, Kohn & Roth to cost eooo'VV;
seven-story apartment-house at Central
Park West and Ninetieth-sty south corner by
Nathan Z. Clark, TO cost S1OoOOO.
A seven story apartment-house In central
Park west. rs feet north Of Ninety -second-st..
BY Samuel Quincy. to cost $l2oOo' c.o,
ssyen-story mt IN SfhtTai
by ]. c. Murray, to cost $lOOOOo
A seven-story apartment house in Central
Park West and Ninety third-st,, south corner
BY James Livingston, to cost Slao'Vo' cantro,
seven-story apartment-hous IN Cehtfai
Park West, 76 feet north Of One-hundredc and No
sixth-st. by Patrick McMorrow to cost $ooOVo'
Two fve-story private houses in Seventy
sixth-st, south side, 100 feet west Of Central
Park West by C. W. Luyster' to cost $4,000
Three ive-story private houses in seventy,
stxth-st, south side. 100 feet west or Centr ia
Park West by James Carlew. to cost $l20OVo
six fve-story private houses on the north sioe
OF Eighty sixth-st.. west OF Central Parh "es'
by 4 B. Right, to cost $114,OOo.
A ten-story apartment-house at broadway
and seventieth-st, southeast corner by james
5utler cost not estimated.
six-story apartment house at Amsterdam
ave. and Seventieth-st., southwest corner. by |
Andrew ]. Kerwin. to cost S275,OOO
a seven-story apartment house at Broaoway
ana Eighty -hrst-st.. northwest corner Dy Alex
snder Walker, to cost 100000.
seven story apartment house I'm Eightteth- |
81, north sde 27h feet west OF AmsterQam- |