The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-08

feet of space in the Sixth avenue
district directly or indirectly under
its control 1t extended over every
one Of the former department stores
in this one-time great shopping
centre. The Greenhut or Slegel-
Cooper store. on the east side OF the
avenue from Eighteen to Nineteenth
street, and the Cluett building. adj
Joining this property, have been taken
for hospital purposes and no one ex
poets the return of these buildings
for commercial purposes for some
time. The northerly one OF the
O'Neill-Adams stores, that between
Twenty first and Twenty second
streets, will be returned TO the
Hershey Chocolate Company, which
leased the building for a long TORN at
$50, 900 a year, which Is the price the
Quartermaster's Department is pay
ing for the building. which is used as
storage place. Part of the old
Simpson Crawford property and the
Fourteenth Street Store, that on the
east side Of Sixth avenue from Thir-
teenth to Fourteenth street. are in
Federal service. The belief is that
all this property will be the first to
be released by the War Department
This belief is substantiated by the
turning back OF the $4,000 square
feet in the ONeill building.
, The ability of the market to con-
sumo the 100000 square feet lust re-
linquished from Government use and
the additional 100000 square feet to
follow in the next few weeks is caus-
ing brokers no worry. Asked If the
demand was equal TO the supply they
said that IL was and for a great deal
more than the market can command
| The expansive floor space In the Sixth
avenue district. which was the great
difficulty in renting it before the war.
is no longer n disadvantage, but an
| advantage, because there are many
concerns in the market looking for
just such space. The general expan-
sion OF trade will consume rapidly
the space turned back by the Gov
eminent or Government contractors
until the coming Of spring, and the
| urging of realty interests Is to have
the Government relinquish ALL Of the
premises ii has under control before
spring has set in.
The office needs are as great if not
greater than loft requirements. Con-
struction of office buildings stopped
long before loft construction was sud
denly terminated by the refusal OF
! the lending institutions to support
any more construction of this kind.
There Is real scarcity OF Offices in
the lower end OF the city. Search
| for 5000 square feet disclosed con-
| dttions recently, when it was found
there was no such space TO be had
| here.
The Government is the largest user
OF space in the office sections. The
Shipping Board occupies entirely the
former Hamburg American line build
fpg at 45 Broadway. Several floors
In the new telephone building, cover
ing block front on lower Broad
street, are held by the Ports Utility
Board. Government bureaus and
boards also have office space in Wall
street, in the South Ferry building at
the Battery. aif,l in many other large
and we'll loCatet buildings in the f1nan-
cial zone. Several floors in the Abe
marie Building. at the northwe st
fourth street are used by the Ordnance
Department, the seven upper floors
in the Printing Craft Building on
Eighth avenue from Thirty third TO
Thirty-fourth street, are used by the
Quartermaster's force, and an auxil-
larry of the Shipping Board is paying
high rentals for moSa of the space in
the Renaissance Building, at the south
west corner of Fifth avenue and
Forty third street.
Information gathered in various cor
ners OF the city would indicate that
| the Office space would be the last re-
lingulshed, and that the intention OF
the Government II to remove Its stor-
age plants out OF the city TO premises
! in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey,
where space is very much cheaper
than i'm Manhattan. 1t is believed that
the hig base warehouse being erected
on the Bay Ridge waterfront will be
sufficiently large to hold tho supplies
which the Government has on hand
| in this city. and which 10 preventing
the commercial use OF these premises
| Real estate men are OF the opinion
that no time should be lost in solving
the storage problem Of the Govern
ment.S Every one appreciates that
large space is needed now and will be
needed for a long time BY the War
Department in which TO store the
great supplies on hand and those
which will be shipped back from
France. but every one also agrees that
Manhattan is no place to store such
material, and that the Government
should take steps Immediately to find
space outside the city.