New-York tribune., 1915-03-14

whether running north or south or east
or west, lead to Jerome Avenue.
Like Manhattan, there are number
OF prominent crosstown thoroughtares
in the region; 1G7th Street is one Of
them. fremont Avenue, between the
Concourse and Third Avenue. is al
ready one of the strongest thorough-
fares running east and west, and IL
daily becoming more vigorous as a
retail centre. Burnside Avenue,
short distance north Of fremont Ave-
nue. is an attractive fathouse and store
centre west Of the Concourse. Many
persons prophesy that at Burnside
and Jerome Avenues are going 10 be
the most thriving retail trade zone o!
the westerly Bronx region.
Those VINO are specialists in resi-
Dental properties will find the largest
field of profit for them along the Con-
course. And those who are most eX-
perienced in the sale and management
of large store properties will find their
biggest harvest of profits to be gar
nered in Jerome Avenue.
There is an old saying in real estate
circles that an unusually wide street
can never be profitable business
thoroughfare. Tho reason given is that
an extra wide street has its realty
power from a trade point of view dl-
vided. The shoppers in such a thor
ough fare seldom cross from one side
10 the other. Jerome Avenue is
100 feet wide, and therefore just the
proper size as regards width for de-
velopment into retail shopping dis
trict Of great power. The ConcOurse.
on the other hand, has all the quail
ties for the highest class residential
thoroughfare. 1t is 1S2 feet wide, and
therefore higher buildings OF the
apartment house type can be erected
along the highway than in any other
part of the westerly Bronx. The
building law, az regards the erection
Of apartment houses. says that tene-
ment house cannot be any higher than
one and one-half times the width Of
the widest street on which II is TO face,
hence, if the widest street is 100 feet
the house can be $50 feet high, which
is one and one-half times the width
of the thoroughfare.
This reveals the building possibili-
ties along the Concourse. One and a
half times the width Of the thorough
fare is 273 feet. And. computing the
average height Of each story Of an
apartment building to be ten feet, II is
possible 10 build legally twenty-st>'n-
story apartment houses on the Con-
course. The tallest apartment house IN
News York City to-day is the seventeen
story structure at the northeast cor
ner Of Seventy-ninth Street and Park
Avenue. Houses ten stories higher than
that could be built on the ConcOurse,
and the light and air of all the premi-
ses would be we'll preserved. not by
artificial, but by natural means. The
Concourse is much higher in most
places than the nearby streets east or
west And the Concourse houses would
set upon a tall ridge. not hemmed IN
by any nearby sloping hillsides.
People pay for view as well as light
and air and other conveniences, and
there are no more interesting vlstas
from tall apartment houses in the
whole of The Bronx than in this west
erly region, with its hundreds OF acres
Of undevelOped land, long ready for
the builder.
The Concourse plots are not restrict
ed but il is almost certainty that no
one would be so foolhardy as to put
up any unsuitable structures along the
roadway. Being under the supervision
of the Park Department. no flag poles
can be erected in front of premises,
and many other things considered OBJ
iectionable in a park-like neighborhood
are not permitted in this part of town.
Builders have been demonstrating re-
Gently on q large scale in the northerly
part of the district what can be done
in improving lots with modern apart
mont houses. At the northwest corner
Of Bush Street and the Concourse a
five story apartment house, called Bit
more Court. was opened for occupancy
last fall. Il was built from plans by
Schaffer & lager, architects, and is
managed by +. Osborne Smith. the well
known real estate agent. This house
il on plot I00.3x100 feet, and Is a
non-elevator structure. 1t has, how
ever, all other improvements. Inc
floors are divided into suites or rooms
OF four. five and six, with bath. The
average rental a room is S8.75 month.
There are thirty-two families in the
house. Every suite was taken or rent
ed soon after the house was ready for
occupancy. and now this structure has
waiting list.
At the northeast corner OF lI9th
Street and the Concourse is tive-story
apartment house, built by Phelan Bros,
about two years ago. II has suites for
three families on each floor.
The Mount Hope Court. at Mount
Hope Place. fremont Avenue and the
Concourse, is most imposing struct-
ure. II was built by o. j. Schwartzler,
who has been interested IN building
in The Bronx for many years. IL IS
not only the tallest apartment house
A,,. Of ha yf1O a H.
stantial elevator apartment structures
Of ten stories in the greater city. The
suites Of six and seven rooms and bath
rent for s12 room a month.
Big sales in the northerly and
southerly part of the Concourse dis
trct have recently been made. In the
upper part speculative builders are the
buyers, and in the southerly part oper-
ators are the predominating factors IN
the purchasing movement. A syndicate
composed of the Alliance Realty Com
many bought about ten days ago the
property of Henry Maillard, the candy
maker Of New York, now resident OF
Paris. 1t comprises about ninety-iiye
lots. with frontages on the Concourse,
Mcclellan, Gerard and Walton Ave
nues and East 166th Street. The syn
dictate is composed of the Alliance
Realty Company. William II. Cheese
brough and Daniel b. Freedman.
The city taxes Concourse property
in this section az $3.50 front foot. A.
Burnside Avenue it puts value OF $500
front foot on Concourse plots.
1t is predicted that corner parcels
on the Concourse which can now be
had at from $4,000 20 $4,000 lot
will within a few years be bringing
twice that sum. or from $4,000 TO
s25 900 a lot, and that interior lot;
will also have doubled in value and
will be selling a. $4,000 lo,.