New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-22
REALTY CHARMS THE BRONX
BOROUGH rs NON MORE ALLURING TO SPECULA-
TORS INVESTORS md BUILDERS
Pons Flied Buildings To Be Erected There Cost of
Corresponding Period the
mated Cos, of Nc,c Has as

One o. the most entranoins speculative and IN
ves,raen, OF the greater city IL me boroush
~ Ths R-ona In the last eiGht months It's nuila-
INK strength has been considerably enlarged siln
natural ctiveness its accessibility from me
main business districts % Manhattan. It's health
f,lnees its busy retail and its low nsthouse
rentals have become much wider known among
rentpsyer. OF moderate means. THOUSANDS oi
families have moved this year from the older resi-
Dental zones where mercantile houses nave fol d
hrmer foothold. 70 the never nafhouse disrlcts q
this beautiful and progressive borough OF the city
These demands Of horneseekers. coupled with the
stability Of resi- values and the brightness
OF the realty outlook. some OF the principal
'sctors I'm the extensive building operations which
have been carried ont in tie borough this year
From January 70 date plans for 1859 Bronx huilo-
nss have been protected the estimated cost of those
operstions being placed about so .Sea"H In the
corresponding period OF last year little more than
thousand buildings 10 cos about g. 600 were
planned. Therefore. the construction work per
sectst this year for irnprorins sites in The Bronx
with substantial hathouses retail business struct-
for purposes is nearly treble in vol
the work done IN the corresponding rreod last
year.
Soon after the opening Of the subway in leo4 the
borough was the OF Of the most phe-
.omenel purchasing movements in lis history. II
resulted IN the creation within the boundaries OF
this sne section Of the city greater factory
many larger hathouse centres and big increase In
70 the great real estate market Of New York as
builders, SPECTATORS or investors large numbers
~ persons who had had'little experience in realty
walks. Many took up the task Of building fat
houses II there such thing demand
10 be considered in determining whether not
such structures could be profltably built and
I.tsd. Some Of their operations of the spec
facular type for they were not content to limit
their work % building 10 one block, but they I'M
proved many blocks. Because OF their lack OF
building experience they put up many imperfect
Hsthousss. The houses were not structuray weak,
the building Of them was carefully watched by
inspectors OF the Buildings Department. but their
floor plans were far from being up-to-date. and a
large part OF the building material used
~ the first class.
When most OF these buildings OF these ine1pert-
enead builders were ready be disposed OF TO an
vestors they contained many vacancies and the
prospect Of charging the earning power Of the
structures was gloomy.
THE SITUATION TWO YEARS AGO
In such situation rentals which return q fair
profit from investment cannot be maintained
and that was the condition OF real affairs 81
many newer sections OF The Bronx Just prior 70
the fna ncial depression Of 1907. needed no real
estate expert TO quickly learn then that the supply
CT hathouses ia many charming sections OF The
Bronx was much greater than the demand, end
that the prospect OF change for the better I'm the
near future was not bright. Some Of the real es-
tnte critics then called attention in forceful man
ner 10 This situation in The Bronx, and styled It
an overburden OF houses" As result Of the CON
ditions. marked decrease in all kinds OF building
operations throughout the borough quickly followed
in fact, the building growth Of the borough prac-
tically stood stiI.
Nearly all OF the money lenders from whom most
81 the new builders of many blocks Of hathouses
had received financial aid in the subway boom days
in The Bronx in 1900. Of which time Il appeared
II the borough had suddenly become a verftable
realty gold mine. took steps 10 help readjust build
AFFAIRS throughout ell the districts of the bor-
"ush. Naturally, they found of the new
builders heavily burdened with real estate and
lacking the necessary money 20 hold the position
that they had assumed IN the real estate market
Il the majority OF these money lenders had de-
manded the immediate payment Of their loans or
tho meeting Of interest obligations the number Of
foreclosure proceedings would have been unusually
large. They decided, however to permit most Of
me new builders, VINO were financially weak and
"verburdeued with nathouse parcels 10 hold and
manage their properties until there was "A good
marker for their wares in investing circles and
until the demand Cor hathouse suites eoualled the
supply. This period o. readjustmert Of building
affairs was Wei under way some time before the
financial depression 81 1907, the realty leaders had
warning Of tho coming financial storm long hefore
II was visible in wholesale and retail business
centres OF the CITY
There Is not likely to 10 = repetition OF this
wholesale fathouse building By inexperienced build
ers rs long As conditions controlled by the
present school Of leaders. Such building does not
help realty progress, il unsettes realty stability
and lessons the sttractiveness % the real estate
market Of the greater city 10 hundreds Of investors
who eventually become the owners OF the finished
product Of all types n builders
Each wear the power - the realty leaders is he
coming greater In late years on Manhattan Island
u trading has assumed such p character that in
fiH7duals arc not prominent as they were some
years $50. Nearly all ~ The present dsy deals
which result IN ;he enlargement NJ The various dis
"io's' whether ~ not they be almost exclusively
residential used Ter business require r,ucb
anger sums - launch than some year. ago Even
the individual who ls rated as being among the
strongest Financially is nov able to undertake alone
such projects and therefore 70 continue active IN
his chosen held of usefulness he must jon syndI-
cate or corporation engaged IN building or.ratfng
~ investing. Manhattan Island
N the financial centres - old New York IS well
as m many Of It's older wholesale business regions
the day Of the individual protector q big building
enterprises Is practically q thing q the mast IN
MS place stands the hg syndicate or corporation oe
realty leaders and those syndicates and oorro-s
IONS are able 10 undertake successfully deals ~ g
magnitude thai the individual never dreamed &c
Incoming idertihed with on his own account Fvs1
me magnitude Of some operations is so larg. that
"a. syi.oiosies aho corporations planning the
project have 10 call outside financial assistance
before they dare launch their project Il is in The
newer sections % the city where The Individual
trader is as prominent as he was in the old dsvs n
'hs real estate fields Of old New York
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
The period q read1ustment Of realty conditions
N The Bronx ended about last fail since
then the trading in The Bronx has been ,,,srlrsa
by several important purchasing and building
movements, and the demand for larger rsthous.
districts there has been increasing at rand rare
Last January few vacancies were reported in ,ta
fathoUse centres which had been built as res,,l,
a. the opening Of the subway and the bringing ~