The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-30
SUBWAY LOT SPECULATION.
VERY UNLIKE WHAT WASLOOkED
FOR FOUR YEARS AGO.
II Implies the Building OF Flat and Tene.
n,ent Apartments Renting at sl2 to
SAS Month, Instead OF Private Houses
hut II Also Means Biz Land Values.

The building enterprise induced by the
completion Of the subway Is very different
in character from that which was expected
when the construction of the road was
begun. For the great bulk OF the land
within walking distance Of either branch
of the rapid transit system uptown, 1t
implies u rental income far beyond what
could by any possibility have been antic-
ipated four years ago. 1t means, CON-
sequently, a sharper and more rapid rise
in land values and bigger chances OF specu-
lative profit.
These chances have, In the course Of the
present month, attracted the capital OF
the strongest realty corporations In the
city. corporations originally formed with a
view to operating exclusively in high priced
downtown property. They have given
rise to a lot movement that is worthy
as we'll on account Of its volume OF small
transactions as by reason of such whole
sale deals as those OF the Central Realty
Bond and Trust Company, the Charles T.
Barney Syndicate, the United States
Realty and Improvement Company and
the Central Realty Company.
To appreciate the bearing Of this move
ment on the prospective distribution OF
population, and consequently on land
values, it is necessary to recall the views
current four years ago as to the probable
effect of the subway on the new territory
that would be made available for settle
ment
1t was then believed that, while Wash
ington Heights and Harlem would be re-
served to Ii considerable extent for apart
ment houses and fats, the bulk Of the build
ing ttere would consist OF private dwell
ing selling at from SIS, 600 to $4,000.
That part OF The Bronx traversed by
the rapid transit road would be built up
principally, it was thought, with two
family houses and private dwellings OF
brick construction selling at from $4,000 to
sl2 500 A considerable proportion of frame
one and two family houses was regarded as
likely, but it was believed that brick con-
struotion would predominate in the i'm
mediate neghborhood OF the road. Streets
adapted for local trade were expected to
contain four and five story flats.
The subway, in a word, was expected to
encourage people Of assured, though mod
crate, incomes to purchase and remove to
inexp ensive homes uptown. making room
in the older districts for expansion Of the
tenement population. This view was un-
doubtedly justified by the conditions which
prevailed when the contract for the con-
struction of the road was awarded.
Owing TO high land values in the older
districts, the building Of middle grade pri-
vate dwellings had practically ceased in
Manhattan In 1900 only liz houses in
tended for private occupancy were built, and
their average cost apart from sites was
Ss5 900 On the other hand, multi-family
| hoe r,r0iarfei nf
existing requirements. The tenements Of
the lower East Side were indeed rented
UP to their full capacity. But the multi
family houses north of Fortieth street con-
tanned a large surplus OF unoccupied living
| accom- modations.
| According to census taken by the Board
of Health in 1900, 1oe8 per cent. Of the
| dwelling space in apartments. fats and
tenements in the Nineteenth ward. COM
prising the middle East Side. was vacant;
! in the Twenty-second ward. on the middle
West Side. 1928 per cent. was unoccupied d.
while in the Twelfth ward. which in
cludes Harlem, ~ per cent. OF the rooms
in multi-family houses stood idle. Re-
cent attempts to build up fiat and tene-
Bronx along the Third avenue elevated.
|
bankruptcy to a numb,r of prominent
! operators.
Upper Manhattan and The Bronx were
| overbuit with fats and tenements TO such
an extent that property there Of this class
was regarded as Improbable. Under the
circumstances, it was reasonable to suppose
! that building enterprise in the new terri
tory along the subway would be directed
mainly toward the production of inexpen-
sive private dwellings, which could no
longer be supplied in the older residence
sections
This view was supported by such prac-
teal experience as was then available. A
conspicuously successful operation was
being conducted by George +. johnson
Il Sons adjacent TO the proposed rapid
transit station at Longwood and West
chester avenues. In The Bronx. They
were erecting big group OF brick one and
two family houses which were finding
a ready market at 5000 or $40, 900 to SIP 500
In Harlem, In 18th street, between Seventh
and Eighth avenues. builders were erecting
small private dwellings, valued at about
$40 900 each, which were similarly finding
q ready sale as soon as completed,
These operations by no means isolated
were among the more noteworthy OF the
practical experiments which four we arr
ago proved the existence Of a genuine
demand for private dwellings Of moderate
cost, and which tended to influence lot
speculation along the subway. Specula-
ton was confined to land advantageously
located for private house building. The
Charles T. Barney and other syndicates
invested many millions Of dollars In land
on Washington Heights which was re-
garded as adapted Tor private dwellings
and high grade apartments. In The Bronx
the American Real Estate Company. which
had previously built up Park Hill, over
looking the Hudson, purchased the Hoe
and Simpson estates, adjoining the john
There was practically no movement,
except In we'll located land supposed to
9 suitable for improvement with one
and two family houses, or, as In the case
of Washington Heights, adapted for pri-
waite dwellings and high grade apartments
Neighborhoods ultimately destined In com.
mon opinion for tenement house construo'
ton were neglected, and efforts to dispose
OF lots in the lowlands near the Lenox
avenue subway resulted In failure.
} since then. however, a great change has
taken place in the city's housing condition
The most urgent need now Is for low priced
apartments renting at $l2 or SIS to e26 OF