The sun., 1919-10-15
HIGH PRICES PAID
FOR LOTS ON B'WAY
251 Sites Opposite Van Cort-
landt Park Bring Total
Of S959,875.
AVERAGE WAS $4,000
Auction Reflects Unfailing
Faith in Future of Worlds
Greatest Street.

A memorable chapter was written-into
the real estate history of New York
city in the Vesey street salesrooms yes
terday when ]. Clarence Davies and
Bryan L. Kennedy sold the 251 lots COM
/ prising the Van Cortlandt estate for n
total of s953,S75 or an average of about
/ $500 per lot. The full significance of
the auction and the magnetic force that
II exerted on the investing public may
best be gauged from the fact that 154
of the lots offered are located on Broad
way. constituting solid mile Of 'front.'
age along the worlds greatest
thoroughfare.' The event had been
truthfully heralded as the last large
Offering of lots on Broadway and this
/ In itself had probably more than a little
| to do with the size of the crowd that
thronged the auction room when the
| sale hogan at noon,
! Considered from any angle the sale
was epochal In its Importance. The fact
that It terminated an ownership Of over
200 years dating back to the Dutch oc-
cupation of New York and carried on
through the successive stages Of the
city's development would have entitled 1t
element Of historic interest must be
added the bearing which the sale had
| upon the unprecedented conditions pre-
| vailing in the realty market at a time
when every Offering of vacant property
is measured in the light of It's possible
influence on the housing shortage
Nor should the fact be lost sight of
that the top price paid at the sale-sas,-
600 for the lot at the northern tip Of
the triangular block bounded by Broad
way and Spuyten Duyvil Parkway
was higher than anything secured at
any previous auction this year. The
highest price at the sale of the Bennett
| lots on Washington Heights. sold by
Joseph P. Day last June, was $1,000.
The average per lot was about the
same as at the Bennett sale.
Yonkers Lots Vastly Higher.
Considering the fact that the bidding
was of the deliberate type the prices
obtained were all the more remarkable,
for each price offered was the result of
careful consideration on the part of the
bidder Still many OF the lots sold must
be viewed In the light of splendid bar
gains, for as Mr.. Davies pointed out
during the sale lots on Broadway just
beyond the city. line in Yonkers are SELL
ing for from $4,000 to $4,000, and
they have no park opposite to enhance
their, desrability.
The c. and L. Lunch Company bought
in the lot which brought s35,50o. Il
paid similar price for the lot adjoin-
ing in the block bounded by Broadway
and Spuyten Duyvil Parkway, and then
bid Ia the lot to the south of that for
SS1,6o0. making its total investment
s102.500
Another heavy investor was Michael ].
Stanley, the restaurant man, whose pur-
chases In one block alone amounted 10
s17,soo. The total OF Mr.. shanieys pur-
chases came to something like $4,000.
Two lots sold for $4,000 each, which
was the second highest price of the day.
One of them, that at the southern tip of
the block bounded by Broadway. spuy-
ten Duyvil Parkway and the Post road,
was bought by Patrick Murphy, who rep
resented Billy Gibson, the prize fight
promoter, An hour later Gibson an
nounced that he had resold the lot at
profit Of $4,000.
The other $4,000 lot was purchased
by H Breining On the sale map It was
designated as lot No. in the triangular
block bounded by Broadway and Spuyten
Duyvil Parkway.
The Van Cortlandt estate split up at
yesterdays sale extended from Spuyten
Duyvil Parkway t242d street to 256th
street, and was bounded on the east by
Van Cortlandt Park. For years II stood
as barrier to the further Improvement
of this section of Broadway
Averages for Broadway Lots.
Twenty-eight lots on Broadway. be-
| tween West 251st and West 252d streets
each having twenty-five feet frontage
sold for S1Sl 500, or an average of about
S4,b96 lot The eight Broadway lots
between West 252d street and Lake
View place brought an average of about
$4,000 lot The thirteen twenty-five
foot lots between Lake View place and
West 253d street brought an average of
about $4,000 lot
Seventeen twenty-five foot lots be-
tween West $3.50 sctreet and West 254th
street brought about the same average
The northernmost ten lots tapering off
from depth of 1880 feet to S0.T2.
brought an average OF about sa.sOO.
Among the others buyers in the tri-
| angular block facing the subway termi-
nal were w. l., Thompson. who took lots
6 and for $4,000 each ]. II. Grain,
lot s for $500, and I. Deitelbaum, who
bought lots o, 10, IL and IL for $500,
I
Hamilton, who took lot for sl0,5o0,
and Charles Smith. who took lot % on
Spuyten Duyvil Parkway for $4,000, Mr..
Deitelbaam also bought lots IS. IA. Is,
16, II and IS for an average of $4,000
each.
Along Broadway other heavy buyers
we're II. Rosenberg, Samuel Goldsticker,
George Holobo, Paul ,Greenwald, Stan
nard Meay, the Lancer Company, build
ers Mrs. f, Gumbuer Michael J, Shan
ley Katherine beegan. Albert Verser
and L Oliver,
Mr. Stanley bought heavily at the
southwest corner of broadway and
| West e6sd street, taking three lots at
| SO, 900 each. He followed this up on
West $3.50 street with four more, carry
ing him through TO the Post road. at
an average of $4,000 a lot. He bought
heavily again at the southwest corner
/ OF Broadway and West 254th street,
taking the corner lot for 81 900 and
the adjoining three lots south on Broad
way for $500 each, He also bought
tho irregular lot adjoining west on 264th
street for $1,000.
He appeared again in the bidding at
/ the northwest corner of Broadway and
254th street. taking the corner lot for
$4,000 and the two lots adjoining north
on Broadway for $4,000 each. Later
on he also bid successfully for four
| lots on the east side OF Post road be-
tween West Assist and 2b0th streets. on
which stands a frame building one and
half stories high, He paid $500 a
lot, including the building
shaayey Has 8Fnfthv I'm Hron nav