New-York Tribune from New York, New York • Page 34

Cheap Lots of 50 Years Ago Now Worth Millions Startling Statements of Auction Ads Are 0 True Many Instances Where a Few Thousands of Dollars Have Grown Into Good-Sized Fortunes Prices Then Like To-day Retrospection is always amusing and interesting, and very often astonishing, especially when the survey is back through, the real estate field? of this city. Incredulity was clearly written on many faces in the crowd which attend? ed the auction sale of Van Cortlandf estate lots after .1. Clarence Davies had said the valuable roperty at the southeast corner of Broadway and Forty-second Street not more than half a century ago brought only $4,050. The expression of doubt was the visible of mental excitement, because it rather difficult to comprehend a contrast so great in so few years. The fact is that Anthony Bleecker, who auctioned the property by the or? der of the Fund Commission? ers of the of New York for the non-payment of taxes or for some other reason, had a rather difficult time get? ting even $4,050 for the corner.

He had to take many and $50 bids to cet the price up to the figure which it at. Evidence of the poor opinion real estate folk cf the 40's liad of property in the vicinity of Broadway and Forty-second is shown by the prices which they bcgrudgingly gave for the land now the site the Hotel Knickerbocker, the Longacre Building, at the northeast corner of Itroadwav and Street, ami for other property on Longacrc Square. From $23,080 to seem ludicrous, in view of prices to-day the most diminutive in the Forty-second Street. tion, to see the prices' paid for the 1 lots scattered between the Blooming dale and Fifth Avenue. Thirty fifth am! Forty-third Tuesday January 21.

1845. instance the ten lots, which con stitute the site of thp Hotel Knicker? bocker, the property of the Astor fan: Real Estate i Has Become Epidemic Conventionalities Tossed the Wind by Buyers am Brokern in Their Eager for Opportunitie The estate fever is th oi of an epidemic. has spread throug the city very rapidly since the first the year, and its effect on the mirid und actions of men is nothing fxtraordinary. An instance: Last wee IX broker learned late at night of IM Broi.x apartment that could bougl gure well under prices prevai the section for house- not I good as this house. Although it en he learned of tl barga rui hed to a telephone ai a man who money ai was irket for opartmc could stand boo The prospective buyei was very plea ed the brokei oui of bed al that boui ml the price I his i tow disappeared.

Yes, he would ta hou if as repr? He uld close a contri ti i Hnd would pay the brokei The me? a 10 ock 1 Sure of Buyers night th? bn of another man ho, ild Iii ted propei I that price The first man mig it i chai ce a con because he was certa the bargain would nor. rei discovered with hundreds of brok? tv many buy? i on 1 for cheap reality. o'clock I broker was out of bed and on his thii other man's house. Althou mites he was pounding the man's door on the third floor of Bronj apartmenl house at fi o'clo ehouted through the door his hi "ess, arxi quickly admitted. So propspective buyer number two interested, showed it by eag the prop? the brokei and i ot the way to thi bargain hou looked if over end the man dec ed thai be interested and wo valued at $2,570,000 on the tax records for 1920, sold for $23,080 at this auction sale.

The immediate cor? ner whose value in to-day's market would establish a record for the sec? tion if brought $4,050, as Mr. Pavies stated in the auction room at: the Van Courtlandt estate sab'. The lot adjoining it on Broadway brought $2,750, and the next two on Broadway included in the hotel's frontage brought $2,530 each. The Forty-second Streel lots in the Knickerbocker Hotel site sold for $1,870 to $1,970 each. The income from any feature of the i hotel for a single day amounts to more, yes, a good deal more, than the price i paid for the keylot of the entire prop- erty on which stands thus $1,300,000 I structure.

The privilege of permitting' a certain company's automobiles to, line the curb around the sidewalk of: the brought a good deal more! to the management than the city se-I cured from the sale the fee of I the land. It is most amusing to note the pr.ccs that prevailed for Broadway and for Forty-second Street lots at this auction sale. What must he the thoughts of the heirs of the person who bought ii northeast corner of Broad- way and Forty-first Street for $3,275, and did not hold it until They' cannol be consoling, because would have been stretched into at I least $720,000 just sitting tight and holding oi' to the fee of the land. The tax deputy in that section of the city is willing'o defend his valuation of $720,000 for the 46 feet on Broadway; at the Forty-first Street corner. $12,500 Stretched to $2,100,000 Regret must also be in the hearts of the heirs of King that he did not hold the land at the northeast corner of Broadway and Forty-second Street, the site of the Longacre Space Comes South of Line" "A fair average price per square foot for high-class office space in the financial district is $-1 in build? ings of the first grade.

Where the space in such a building is of ex? ceptional instance, a wit'-' unobstructed view, perpet ua sunligh efficient divi on and prom nt entrance the price may run as high as $5 por square foot, while dark -pare would run low $3 per square foot." Building Managers' and Owners' Association of New York. Previous to the war office space he i lots it ranged in pi ice from $1 50 to a square I foot. Park offices had market, I since the fies' could be had so pa thi prit lie would be ready to thi bargain at I o'clock. Ten o'clock in the morning found the first pro ipectix i buyer on hand wit i a el eck to close the deal. The rokei wa liiere, thi deal went through and he received his commission on a purchase.

The deal closed, he in ed to the other prospect and told that some one had got in ahead th? which he explained to the tJ huj er in he morning as a like I'hi brokei nuggc sted hat it to buy property ad vanci It wa heap as il pi ii i paid for house? ection. An offer of t-1!" above th? idling price, plus wa made, und the broker hurried off to hia first It was accepted and ho made another com? eo on. This wax not his plan when he told the second man of the bargain at 0 o'clock iti the morning. He wanted to the house and feared the brut man would bach out. The delay of a day he figured would coxt him $1,025, Cottages at Yonkers Sold Thomas S.

Burke has sold for the Lankan Realty Company the tapestry brick dwelling al Wellosh'y Avenue nor, Gutncr, of thin city. The broker also sold for Harry Bannihr to -J. Eyster the dwelling 62 Cornell Avenue, Vonkera, Building, because his investment of $12,500 far half of the Broadway front? age to Forty-third Street would be worth at least $2.100,000 to-day. The immediate corner was secured bv Mr. King on a bid of $4,420, the next lot to the north at $2,750 and each of the next two at $2,710.

The four lots at the southeast corner of Broadway Forty-third Street, the site of the Fitzgerald Building, and a section of the Cohan Theatre, naturally did not command the prices of the lots to the south. I. Hamilton, who was the suc? cessful bidder at the sale, paid $.1,1.00 for the corner Lit and from $2,250 to $2,490 for the next three. It may in? terest folks to know that, the cheaper land could be sold to-day without any effort for $2,000,000. If the tax rate is not increased the owners of the two buildings will pay over to the city close to $100,000 in It.

a mikhty contrast, this tax bill and thi fee value established by the auctior saie for the Sinking Fund Commis sioncrs. The Wallick Hotel corner directly op? posite, that is, at the northeast cornei of Broadway and Forty-third Street also figured in this memorable atictiot sale. All the land up to the Claridg? was disposed of, after many bids been made for the property, at a tota of $12,465, The corner brought. and a gore with wide frontage oi Broadway, next to the Claridge prop erty, brought $1,800. A.

D. Schultz, th cigar dealer, secured the ground floo of the hotel on lease not many day ago on a leasing basis which require the payment of a rental of $125,000 year. Lot after lot. on the south side Forty-second Street, between Broa? way ami Avenue, was struck dov, at $1,870 each. On the north si? prices ranged from $1,780 to each, 'I he northwest corner Sixth Avenue and Forty-aecoi Street was disposed of for $8,300.

There are very few real estate m. and investors in N'r York to-day woulfl not willing pay Tax Departme prices for property in that general sec? tion. The city has placed a valuation of from $195,000 to $285,000 on lots in the south side of Forty-second Street, the block between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, and the cheapest lot on the north side of this block, a parcel is $120,000. The northwest corner of Sixth Ave? nue and Forty-second which sold for a few thousand dollars at the auction, is easily worth ex? clusive of Ihe building on the site. It is a question whether the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Forty second Street, exclusive of the build? ing, which is rented on a basis that totals six figures a year income, could -be purchased from the present ownei for the tax valuation, which is $415,000, Beaux Arts Corner for $3,200 The Beaux Arts, at the snuthea-st cor? ner of Sixth Avenue and Fortieth Street, is a mighty valuable business location, all will admit.

It is knowr far and near as one of the York places of amusement. In view of tin thousands of dollars taken in by th? management every day it is hard ti I believe that $800 a lot was as much Auctioneer Bleecker could obtain foi each of the- lots covered by the Beam Arts restaurant and hotel, and that thi: was the price that obtained for eacl of the lots in tho Sixth Avenue fron I down to the Thirty-ninth Street cor ner. It is hardly believable that the i land now covered by the Republican Club and the Engineers' Club, facing Bryant. Park, was sold within the last seventy-live years for as low as $000 and $700 a lot. The records show that, starting next to the Beaux Arts cor ner, lots sold for $755 down to as they neared Fifth Avenue.

The latter i property, of course, was not full depth. A gore parcel on the south side of the way, feet west of Fifth Avenue and having a frontage of 99.9 feet on the street, brought $765, which was re? garded a great price for this land in those days. A twenty-story office building now covers this frontage. Klks' Land Once Worth $1,150 If might be interesting to Flks to know that, the land on Forty-third Street, for which they pay a tax based on a valuation, sold for $1,150 a lot back in the 50's at public auction. The high price paid for in thiH block at the auction sale of March, i 1851, according to maps in possession of ,1.

Clarence Davies, was $1,330, which was for one of two of the parcels in in the Cohan Thenter site back of the Fitzgerald Building. $12,100 a Lot for Stern Store Site The big store of Stern Brothers, on Forty-second and P'orty-third streets i facing Bryant Park from the north LOOKING FROM BUSJNBSS INVASION kcL FIRST STEP TO 4J85000 LOT MLUES. fy Courtesy Ciartnce OzVics) and the Aeolian Building on the same block, are valued by the city at $5,300, 000. The land which carries the Stern store is valued at $4,175,000 on the 1920 tax list. This same land a little more than half a century ago averaged in value $1,240 a lot.

Prices ranged from $1,160 to $1,440 a lot in this block. It. is doubtful if any full size lot in that block would bring less than "-THO, 000 to-day. On April 17, 1850, the triangle at the north end of Long Acre Square, bounded by Broadway Seventh Avenue, Forty-seventh and Forty eighth Streets, with other property to the east, some of which is the site of well known theaters, was disposed of at public auction. The triangle as then sold extended much further south, the impression being, that it included the land now used by the Knights of Columbus community houstt.

This is indicated by the fact that there were seven parcels in the triangle and each one was of good width. The seven sold for a total of $3,925, the prices ranging from $210 for the apex to $1,100 for the Forty eighth Street frontage now the site of the Palais Royal. The triangle will i bo assessed this year. Who Would Not Pay $17.820 for Plaza I Site? Refusal to pay taxes led to the sale of considerable land through the central sections of the city some time in the late 40's. The land improved with the Hotel Plaza was part of this sale.

The hotel site, the city thinks, is worth $4,175,000, and unless the owners of the property can snow that the land and the bunding are not worth as much as $8,100,000 they will I have to pay taxes on that amount, i At the sale held by the city for the non-payment of taxes the same area sold for $17,820. The eight lots on Fifth Avenue brought $15.400. the cor- ners of Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Streets selling for $2,600 each, the in- side lots on the avenue at $1.700 each. There is a ballroom on the first floor of the hotel which earns almost Men Still Living Wh Remember Salo of 42d Street and Broadway Corner for $4,030 Drexel Morgan Paid Less Than $100,000 for World's Most Valuable Corner much in a week as was paid for the avenue frontage of the big structur-. Lots on Fifty-ninth Street brought i $570 to $1,175 each at this sale.

The northwest corner of Park Ave nue and Fifty-third Street, directly across from the Racquet Club, brought the high price of S'J. 150. less than lots in the far-distant suburbs are selling for to-day. $3,150 Big Price for 5th Avenue Corner The northeast corner of Fifth Ave? nue and Fifty-third Street sold fo, $3,150 at the same sale and the next three lots on Fifty-third Street brought $2,550 each. Other lots in that block brought from $1,800 to $975.

The Fifth Avenue corner is worth $435,000 to? day, while lots on Fifty-third Street over to Madison Avenue are held at from $85,000 to $100,000. Morgan's Corner at Less Than $100,000 Maurice E. Cass. of the linn of E. H.

Ludlow formerly one of the most active auctioneering concerns in the city, said that the Morgan at Wall and Broad streets, regarded as the most valuable in the world, was sold by the Ludlow firm to Drexcl Morgan some years ago for something less than $100,000. He said that a Ludlow advertisement, explained thp.t it was a first-class property, whicn proves that the Ludlow firm stood for no deception in advertisements, be? cause the corner has proved to be ill that the ad said of it. Tt is hard to estimate the value of this property. Every expert in the city agrees that it the hub of real estate values, and nowhere in the wide, wide world is there a parcel of its size that can command a greater price than the southeast corner of Wail and Broad streets. Four years ago the city placed a val? uation of $40,000 a front foot on the property, so that at that valuation the price paid at auction would b-' more than consume? purchase of a three- fool idi iti ion of $4,110,000 I as bee ner for tax purposi Inch means that everj foof ol frontage mi Street creased 1.000 in the last Foui I cliang? i lurf Bu lit? Id the Lu The sale was conduct ed I mem? ber of he A hoi pc i 115, for properl ton later i ed li an ofl I rling.

Robert E. Dowling bo prop? erty cei ing S2 it. Indicate Remarkable Fifty yea i no une. Vet the prict com? pared ol o' the tell one storj and thai d( elopm? it I the or Folk 5 who paid tin 'CO? perhap i ai much rea on as opl in i of to-day, New Vork speed to These I effect of stimula! lopi in new life and pla the hand of ma ny, after these sub mpr? potential alue had i tad? The a bich were secured Mr, I la ie pei uliai to fhf ion il foi Mi i ecoi ut par' of Manhati opinent, st rang? to iy, can large sur? to auctioi .71 placed he hand 0 which i ad been I Valuat ion? in I Vori are gaining mom? tuni ear. Now hei i'-'orld cat a similar 101 roperty nhanc? mem r.

has not stopped growii Vincent Astor Parts With Seven Business Buildings in Mercantile Section of Broadway Vincent Astor has disposed of an? other large Broadway holding for cash. Seven large and small buildings, be? tween Spring and Prince streets and extending through from Broadway to Crosby Street, were purchased yester? day by Everett, Heaney export? ers of drygoods, at 498 Broadway. They paid Mr. Astor his price and met his terms, which were cash. The deal was negotiated by the Charles F.

Noyes Company, which has a number of buildings in the old mercantile district to Mr. Heaney since the turn came in real estate conditions, especially in that part of the city, about a year ago. The buildings purchased are known us o.lu to 556 Broadway and HO to 92 Crosby Street. They are four and five stories high and cover a ground area of square feet, property which the Astors had owned for many years. There 130,000 square feet space in the buildings.

Some of this, per haps the greater part of it, will be util? ized by the buyers for their business. This space will be in the build? ing at 546 and 548 and HO to 88 Crosby Street. Mr. Heaney has purchased in the last year the eleven-story building at 474 Broadway and 38 Crosby Street, am I Broadway through to 170 Merec? Street. The Broadway Realty Com I pany, in whose name the purchase! i were made, consists of Mr.

Heaney ant his partners, Silas K. Everett and Mai 1 colm R. Lawrence. Mr. Heaney, in commenting on th? latest by Everett, Heaney I said: "I have always bi-cn inter 1 ested in real estate as an investment and as a result of forty years of activ? business experience in the Broadway district in and about f'anal Street, have reached the conclusion that portion of New York offprs so desir able a field for successful investmen Broadway property, and property on Broadway in the downtowi district, I believe property north am south of Street will he greatl; improved after New York ami Nev Jersey Vehicle Tunnel is Row of business buildings on Broadway between Broom? and Spring Streets sold by Vincent Astor.

Realty Banish Red Flag The red flag, the emblem of auctioneers, ir would soem, sini time immemorial, is to be banished because it is the color of the stand? ard raised all over the world by an? archists, Socialists, and J. and has come to be regarded as the emblem of disorder and of principles of government contrary to those which the wish of the people. Word comes from Cincinnati that the real estate m-Mi of that city who auctioneer have decided to abandon the red flag as the mark of their trade for an emblem of Alice blue. The change was approved by all. and from now on Cincinnati will fly a blue flag instead of a red one.

Browne Says Budget Will Be Reduced $35.000.000 Stewart Browne, president ol Real Estate Owners' Association, is? sued a statement yesterday in which he said that the taxpayers of New York can be sure of a reduction of $35.000, 000 in the proposed $317,000,000 id get. This reduction, he says, is po? sible even after providing for the necessary increase of pay for the Po? lice, Fire, Street Cleaning and other "There are still a large numbei of proposed new employees which, in our judgment, are unnecessary, especially in the Law Department and the Bor ough President's departments," he said. "The Mayor and the Comptroller, while at loggerheads to a certain ex? tent, are both conscientious and eco nomical and can be relied upon to do their best, so far as good intent ion go, to keep the budget down. "No good results can be obtained by platitudinal statements that if certain activities can be dispensed with the city can save $50,000,000 or $100.000. 000.

Might just as well suggest that if the municipal government be dis pensed with the taxpayer? can save $317,000,000. The public insist upon having these activities, and the only question is that they should be sup plied efficiently and with proper econ omy and without political graft." Business Realty To Be Improved By I'urehasers Office Structure 1- IMannrd for West St reef; Will Erect Low Building on Broadway The Bi uy-Johi tion, as A. oh? bM purchased ron Companj of Ph West Forty-s? cond Street, a livi build ing, a lot 20x100, betv hi Sixth the brok I i. I now un 1er lease to Huvl? i re plac? v. ai I bu Id g.

idjoii A ng on the Miss 1 i eud a so ha for Mri Behrens I ai 243 West Fort-, -se? foi rm of fifteei establish hig or. he pn Improvement for Broadwaj orner William B. Ma i to client the group of bu ling! rapos ing tin no rthwesl and Sixty-seventh St reel For the wise Warehouse Company, having ntag? on Broadwa of 86 fe? feet Sixty-seventh Street pur chaser the present I uildings and ered on the site i three utorj building suitable for use restaurant or automobile ta Sale in F.ast Fourteenth The Morirenthau, Jr. Compiinv as for Myron. I.

Borg 231 Em1 Fourteenth Street, a five storj iiatit ilding. Brown Buys 12-Storj Loft in 25th Street Frederick acquired from the Hudson Mortgage Crmpany th? twelve-story loft 127 to I3l" West Twenty-fifth The building on plot located between Sixth and Seventh nues. The building is fully tenanted. and more than half of the will be available for Irm-c in.