New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-05
CHANGES IN LAND VALUES
Continued Depreciation in
Downtown Drygoods Section.

downtown DrygoOdS oectloh'
Realty values in the old Broadway
wholesale drygoods section from Worth
to 18th street and in the lower East Side
are still going downward. This fact is
shown by the tentative assessment rolls
for 1912 Of the Tax Department, open to
public inspection on october !.
This section comprises districts Nos. 2
and 4 on the Tax Department map. In
spite of the fact that new buildings to
the value Of 81 100000 were put UP In this
territory this year the decrease In values
is placed at s75oo.O0O by the city APP
praisers. The causes for tho depreciation
include neglect to keep the properties up
to date and the bringing within the rapid
transit gone Of Fourth avenue and many
other midtown districts, besides tho
northward expansion Of the Fifth avenue
retail shopping centres.
| Many fourishing wholesale business
houses which for more than a decade
were situated In lower Broadway were
unable about five years ago to find larger
and modern quarters in their old nelgh-
borhood. Speculative builders fastened
TO meet the demand by the creation OF
| what is now known as the modern city
of lofts" north Of 14th street and south
of 42d street. and their efforts In this re-
spect resulted in the quick departure Oh
hundreds of old established houses from
downtown to midtown and the formation
of new trade centres in various cenrai
| sections.
Downtown landlords affected by this
northward drift did not take steps to stop
further departure from their district until
last year, when an organization with that
end in view was formed. 1t is expected
that 1918 will be the last year when lower
Broadway, from Worth street to l4th
street, will give a poor account OF us
realty strength.
The Broadway Seventh avenue subway
is the factor which is expected to remooei
I this old part Of the town into district
of modern buildings.
Mr.. Purdy, president of the Tax Board
discussed at length yesterday the de-
creases and increases in various parts or
! the city. His figures also showed that
/ eleven out Of twenty-three Brooklyn dis
/ tricts were assessed at lower marx than
last year. This state of affairs is not like
| ly to cause any surprise In realty circles,
! as II was proven conclusively last year
| that many parts of Brooklyn were over
assessed. The view held by many experts
that the Brooklyn Heights district was be-
coming one Of the most alluring TO inves-
tors and spectators was borne out by Mr..
Purdy's analyses.
| On the subject he said In part:
In the Borough of Manhattan the in,
crease for new buildings was, In rouhu
| figures, SS0,oooOO0, and the aggregate III,
! real estate was only s95.ooo,o0O; thus there
was a very small net increase In inc
assessed value of land. There has been
no marked advance In the value OF iand
| in any part of the city during the last
Year. but there are some few small sec.
| lions where the increase was suincient
TO offset the decline elsewhere and yleia
little s net so gain Of Worth II S street N8
was a considerable increase In iand
values and an increase for new buildings
amounting TO nearly eight millions, tne
net increase being H4.5l1,ooO. In the "a,
Sd and 4th districts, which cover al the
territory north of the LIST District ana
south OF 14th street, from river to river
there was q net decline. The net De
crease in those three districts was aSou i
increase for new buildings of over seven
millions.
| II has been we'll known that values
have been declining In the neighnorStoSo o
of Broadway and on the lower East Side;
The department has taken account OF
the actual decline In values and MADE
substantial reductions In the assess
ments. The only other district which
shows a net decrease on the Island OF
| Manhattan is District No. IL, which lies
east of Lenox avenue and south or the
Harlem River. The new building there
has been very slight and the net de-
crease for that district was nearly 49,
been in the territory lying between I4th
street and 18th street and west or Sec
ond avenue. In that territory there are
| five districts and the increase is nearly
s76. 600. 900. A considerable part of this
| increase is accounted for by the new
buildings along Fourth avenue and Park
| avenue.
of ordinary real estate in The Bronx Is
$50. $50, 0O0 while the increase for now
| buildings is $a0,444,00O. IT appears, there
fore, that there has been no material
change in the aggregate assessed value
there have been reductions and in some
parts slight increases, but, taken as
whole, the borough stands where 1t was.
The greatest amount OF new bulldlne
borhood of the Southern Boulevard and
| Westchester avenue.
| In Brooklyn the net increase In the as
sessed value of ordinary real estate was
| 500, COS 900, while the increase for new
| buildings was $A.355,000. In eleven dis
| tricts out Of twenty-three the land value
| for 1913 is less than for 1912. The principal
| increase in land valuation was on water
| front property in the Red Hook, Heights,
Williamsburg and Greenpoint districts.
| The following districts chow net de-
| crease in spite Of some new building: The
| territory lying south OF Flushing avenue
and Broadway, east of Bedford and north
| of Putnam avenues; the district lying just
south of Greenpoint. between Broadway
and the borough line: East New York,
Canarsie and New Lots, Rugby and East
| Flatbush, Borough Park, and slight de-
crease In Coney Island and Sheepshead
| Bay. Very important changes have been
| made in the assessments in the Borough
| OF Brooklyn Out Of 2l6,000 parcels, 81, 100
| have been changed. Many reductions were
made in the assessment Of old buildings.
No district in Queens shows a decrease
| The aggregate increase In the assessed
value of ordinary real estate was 81 .6O3,-
| 0OO while the increase fer new buildings
was S135l4,O00. The territory lying along
| Jamaica Bay ard including the islands In
The most important increase for new
buildings was In the northeasterly end Of
Astoria, East Williamsburg. Forest Hills
and in parts of Woodhaven and Rich
mond Hill The largest land increase
was in the vicinity Of the Plaza.
In all but one of the districts in Rich
mond Borough there was a small In
crease, pretty we'll scattered over the
island the aggregate Increase being
So Az, 900. and the increase for new build
ings amounting to Nll6,0O
tn hox, hoa