New-York tribune., 1921-12-11
Iheaters Will
Claim Upper
Seventh Ave.
General Tendencies Indicate
Avenue Between 42d and
50th SITS. Will Be Added
to the Playhouse District
By Joseph P. Day

Following period of years in which
the future of Seventh Avenue between
Times Square and Central Park hung
IN the balance, a revival of interest
begun recently in this section assures
the future of this avenue.
One of the interesting improvements
is the AL Jolson Theater, at Seventh
Avenue and Fifty-eighth Street. The
opening of this playhouse recently has
established "farthest north" the
ater, and should do much to attract
traffic to this section.
few years ago $4,000 would have
been considered liberal appraisal for
a 25-foot front lot on Seventh Avenue
IN the tlfties, but now values run from
$4,000 to $125,000 for 25-foot unit in
side lots and 100000 for corners. The
northeast corner of Fifty-seventh
Street, size 104x10O, was purchased by
the Kelly Springfield Tire Company in
l92o, the deed containing considera-
ton OF $65O,000, and upon this plot a
building is now being built.
What Avenue Holds
1t we glance along Seventh Avenue
quickly we see two large store and Of
flee buildings at Forty-eighth Street;
at Forty-ninth Street is the fifteen
story Godfrey Building, a store and
office building; at Fiftieth Street to
Flfty-first Street we find the car barn
block, so called, but which is looked
upon as one of the finest large plots
left in this section of the city for
amusement, hotel or apartment house
enterprises. Many interesting schemes
of development have been on the board
for this block, and probably in the not
distant future one of these will become
an actuality.
At Fiftyfourth Street is the twelve
story Oregon Apartment, at Fifty fifth
Street is the twelve-story Wyoming
Apartment and opposite is the twelve
story Idaho Apartment; between Fifty
fifth and Fifty-sixth Streets, on the
east side of the avenue, is the twelve
story Hotel Wellington; on the west
side, Fifty-fifth to Fifty-sixth street
and running through to Broadway, it is
planned to build the Commonwealth
Hotel; between Fifty-sixth and Fifty
Carnegie Music Hall and the Hotel
Grenoble; on the northeast corner of
Fifty-seventh Street we have the large
vacant plot purchased by the Kelly
Springfield Tire Company and build
ing is now under construction here
On the southwest corner of Fifty
seventh Street is the twelve-story
Roden Studio apartment and on the
northwest corner we find the Osborne
Apartments. The Osborne recently put
in new stores on the ground floor, at
testing the high rental value of stores
and the fine retail business to be done
here. At Fifty-eighth to Fifty-ninth
street, on the east side, are the old
Navarro Apartments, facing Central
Park, the finest in the city when they
were built. On the southeast corner
of Fifty eighth Street is twelve-s story
modern apartment house.
Many Apartment Dwellings There
This summary shows that these thr-
teen blocks on the avenue have been
largely rebuilt, and from Fifty-fourth
Street to Fifty-ninth Street has been
favored section for high class apart
ment dwellers. In my opinion, the de-
velopment from now on will recognize
to a greater extent the advantages of
the avenue for retail business and
theaters. This short section of Sew
enth Avenue forms q natural fork with
Broadway from Forty y-seventh Street
north, and it is reasonable to expect
that considerable overflow of retail
business will naturally come from
broadway just as retail business over
flowed from Fifth Avenue to Madison
Avenue in the forties.
1t seems only a few years ago that a
person could stand at Forty-second
Street and Broadway and. looking north
at night, see only a fairly we'll lighted
tthoroughfare, but the light came from
lamps placed to take care of the pc
destrian and vehicular traffic only, and
with the exception of a few roof cleo
trio advertising signs on low buildings
Broadway it.s from Forty-thrd Street
north LOCKED to be a quiet street at
night. The bright theater signs were
south of this point, the popular thea
ters being the Empire and the Metro
politan Opera House, at Fortieth
Street; the Casino, at Thirty-ninth
Street; the Knickerbocker, at Thirty
eighth Street; the Garrick and Herald
Square, at Thirty-fifth Street; the
Standard. at Thirty-third Street;
Daly's, at Twenty-ninth Street; Wal
lacks, at Thirtieth Street, and SO ON.
Now Broadway is a blaze of light at
night looking north from Forty second
Street, and this is largely made by
theatrical signs. The theaters have