The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-27
LARGEST APART
 MENT HOUSE.
IN NEW YORK TO BE DUET BY WILL
 LIAM WALDORF AsT0H.
A skyscraper to shelter za5 Families. Rent Roll Wf1l Ba
 &S00.OO0,

William Waldorf Astor. loyal subject of King Edward of England, is prepar- ing to put up the largest and most magnificent apartment house in New York. It will occupy the entire block from Broadway to West End Avenue and from Seventy-eighth to Seventy ninth Streets. The estimated cost is s2,5o0.000. The plans are In the office of Clinton and Russell. architects. says The New York Press.
 Mir Astor looked over the plans for his new uptown apartment house when he was in this city last winter. and ap- proved them. Only two matters of de- tail were left in abeyance. One was whether the building should be four teen or sixteen stories high. The oth- CT was the time to begin construction. William Waldorf Astor. unlike his cous- in and chief rival In the hotel business, does not like high buildings. He thinks ten or twelve stories should be the lim- 1t. His apartment house. the Graham. at One Hundred and Sixteenth Street and Seventh Avenue. with which he has been experimenting for five years. and which is to serve as model for the new Broadway apartments. is only eight stories high. It has been pay- ing investment from the start. There fore, so Mir. Astor's agents and confi- dential men tell him. he should make the new building twice as high. It Is the belief of those who know that MT. Astor will ultimately yield to persua- sion and decide upon sixteen -story building. That is what the plans call for, anyway.
 The other point in doubt. the time of beginning construction, depends solely on the outlook for trouble with the la bor unions. MT. Astor had so much difficulty with them In putting up the Hotel Astor that he lost his temper. He I is said to have declared at one time that never again would he put up hotel or apartment house building in New York. But, rich as he Is, he cannot afford to have an entire block which he inherited | from his great grandmother lying idle | in the most progressive part of upper I Broadway, paying taxes on valuation of more than s1.0oo.0oo at time when
 there Is a clamor for more apartment houses along the line of the subway. Charles A. Peabody, one of the mana gers of the Astor estate, who holds William Waldorf's power of attorney, wffl ultimately settle the undecided points in relation to the new Astor apartment house. Another visit from the distinguished English proprietor in the immediate future Is not considered necessary Assured it Is said, Of
 
 Mir. Peabody will give the word to go ahead with the new building before fall. On Site of Historic Landmark. In order to erect his new apartments Mr. Astor will have to tear down historic landmark. dear to the heart of Engfishmen. About one hundred and fifty years ago this Broadway property belonged to q former Govern or of the British West Indies. who came to New York to engage in conn mereiai ventures when his term Of of- flee expired. He built s two-story stone house after the fashion of those in the tropics. The interior was fitted out with imported woods. At the time 1t was built the house was one of the suburban curiosities of the city. The former Governor used to entertain all the eminent men from England who crossed the Atlantic to this side. He kept this up even during the Revolu- ton, while the British army of occu- patton remained idle for months in New York. Lord Howe, who was sent here especially to whip George Washing ton, was a frequent guest at this house. After the property passed into the hands of the Astors a two-story frame superstrycture was put over the origi- nal building. which still stands and is occupied by tenants of the firm to which Mfr Astor subiet the property.
 The old house is sheltered by three fine chestnut trees of historic interest. An offer of $S,000 for two of them was made four years ago by q New Yorker, who wanted to transplant them to his own property. David Clarke's Sons. landscape gardeners and florists. have been the occupants until recently of the property on a long lease.
 After the Hotel Netherlands was we'll started William Waldorf Astor decided to make a plunge in the apartment house line. He had ideas of his own on the subject, derived principally from the large apartments of Paris and cities in Southern Europe, which he was anxious to carry out here. Tn Graham court Clinton 6 Russell built at cost of e1,126, 900 an eight-story apartment house in which there Is not a single in- side room. It covers the block front from One Hundred and Sixteenth Street on Seventh Avenue, and Is 175 feet deep on the side streets. The principal fea- ture of it--which will be amplified on a much larger scale in the new building lis central court. 7sx10S feet, with a large garden and a fountain in the cen- ter and rustic benches placed about the asphalt walks. This court is as ex- elusive as could we'll be managed. spe- cial officers in uniform from the Astor estate offices halt strangers at the outer gate. They ascertain by telephone whether the person the visitors wish to see are In. There are eighty apart- ments In all, seven, eight or nine rooms each. with rentals varying from S1,1O0 to s2,0o0.
 A Magnificent Central Court.
 Although Graham court is not in a smart residential neighborhood, as Mir, Astor anticipated 1t Would be when he began to build it has hean a hgo. s,,. cess. He and his advisers believe tne same sort of apartments would com mand 50 per cent higher rentals on Broadway.
 Although the same height as its huge neighbor, the Ansonia, the largest | apartment hotel fin the world, Mir, As | tors new living palace for the people | with long purses, will cover a consid- | erably larger ground area. The An sonia measures 200 feet on Broadway | and 239 feet along Seventy-third Street. which is really the front of the hotel. l It was 2,sG0 apartment rooms The | plot on which Mir. Astor intends to | build faces 204 feet on Broadway and | West End Avenue and 246 feet on sev- l enty-eighth and Seventy-ninth Streets
 Making allowance for the difference | in size and height as compared with | Graham Court. 1t is estimated that the | new Astor building will have at least | 224 apartments of seven, eight or nine l rooms each. Were 1t not for the cen- tral court, there would De room for l h..N kNA A.. MM-