New-York tribune., 1920-01-25
Land Solution of
Great Housing Problems

Comparatively few years have elapsed
since a small group of foresighted,
keen-minded real estate men, includ-
ing Robert E. Dowling, ]. Romaine
Brown, Charles Griffith Moses. Joseph
P. Day, Gustavus L. Lawrence and
others, began to direct public atten-
tlon to the Dyckman tract, the ship
canal, Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale and
Van Cortlandt Park sections of upper
Broadway.
They did this by their purchases. re-
sales, building operations and public
auction offerings, concident with the
Washington Heights BOOM" the
genesis of which was written in the
first years of subway construction and
operation, from 1901 to 1906. During
this period and up to 1914, the first
year of the great war. it was possible
to erect "walk-ups" proftably on a
rental basis ranging from 50 to 81 a
room on lots valued at $4,000 to $40
600 each. This was because building
material and labor were low priced.
Now. with the population of New
York casting about in all directions
for moderate priced flats, the chief de-
mand is for lots low enough in price
TO offset the present high cost Of
building. which high cost, it is the
consensus, is here to stay.
Cheap Land Great Factor
1t is this vital need for cheap. but
accessibly located lots, and new hous-
ing facilities for a great multitude of
families that once again is directing
public attention to the more northly
sections of Manhattan, and the lower
part of the West Bronx, particularly
no
vicinity Of the stations at 215th. 225th.
23lst, 23Sth and 242d streets. along the
line of Broadway
Meanwhile, rents in the Dyckman
section, in the district south of 2o5th
Street have increased materially and
SlO to $12 room is the AVERAGE
price to-day for the better class walk
ups Apartments in elevator houses
IN this section are rated at an average
OF Sl5 room and upward.
BY comparison, the new "walk-ups"
IN the Boulevard and Concourse in the
East Bronx are bringing SIS d room.
and more in the case of few of the
more ornate and better equipped houses.
In Queens also rents in non-elevator
houses have risen from less than s1p
room to $13, with no vacancies.
prominent builder said recently in
discussing the building situation that
there was little doubt in his mind that
on the basis of the present rentals for
accesslbly located apartments, and the
low cost of lots, the additional cost of
building could be charged off within
Two Years after the completion of the
building, while the building was vet a
new and modern sfruc-
turc not an old one, remodelcd and
renovated.
1t appears. therefore, to be more a
question OF cheap lots than of the high
cost OF construction The outlook. is
tor a continuance of the present high
rents In the more modern buildings
and reductions after the supply has
been brought abreast of the demand.
Low Priced Lots Here Are Limited
Cheap lots. in Manhattan, are, how
ever, more or less difficult to locate
In fact. the only accessible area of that
description. remaining available to lot
buyers and builders. appears to be the
section north Of 2l5th Street and south
nf the klngsbridge section of The
Bronx, along the line of Broadway
west thereof TO the Highlands of
Spuyten Duyvil, east to the Harlem
River and the ship canal. This section
is almost wholly virgin ground, free
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