1987: Record number of rental conversions
Figures released by the Census Bureau in August 1987 revealed that a record number of apartments were converted from rentals to condominiums and co-ops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The numbers, reported by the New York Times, show that in 1986 alone, 231 conversion plans for Manhattan were accepted by the state attorney general’s office, for a total of 21,776 units, the highest annual total ever. In Brooklyn, 105 proposals were accepted and 6,614 apartments were converted, also a single-year record.
Many expected that sales of new residential developments would be hurt by the influx of conversion inventory, but brokers reported seeing little overlap between clients interested in new apartments and those seeking a converted property.
One negative consequence of developers’ focusing on conversions, however, was that a tight rental market, rarely exceeding a 2 percent vacancy rate over the previous decade, was pulled even tighter. Only 8,000 new rental apartments were built in Manhattan between 1984 and 1987. Demand drove rents up, hurting low-income families, young professionals and businesses that were trying to attract middle-level employees to the city.
1967: Plans set for Singer Building demolition
Forty years ago this month, U.S. Steel announced plans to demolish the Singer Building at 149 Broadway, in what was then the tallest controlled demolition of a skyscraper. When it was built in 1908, the 47-story, 612-foot-tall high-rise enjoyed a short-lived 18 months as the world’s tallest building, though it was soon dwarfed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower at One Madison Avenue, which was constructed in 1909. The Singer tower’s architectural influence lasted much longer, though, as the Ernest Flagg-designed building pioneered the use of setbacks and terraces in skyscrapers for the remainder of the 20th century.
By 1964, the Singer Building was lost among the surrounding high-rises of Lower Manhattan. The sewing machine manufacturer found the space cramped and moved to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, selling the tower to U.S. Steel. Lacking a landmark designation, it was demolished in 1968 and became the tallest building destroyed until the terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Singer Building and several others on the block bounded by Broadway, Church and Liberty streets, including the 32-story City Investing Building, were demolished to make room for the 54-story, 743-foot One Liberty Plaza. When it was completed in 1973, Merrill Lynch purchased the 2.2-million-square-foot tower and consolidated offices from several other buildings to occupy a third of the space.
1947: First Stuyvesant Town building opens
August 1, 1947, marked the opening of 605 East 14th Street, the first of the 35 buildings that eventually made up Stuyvesant Town. The project, which would house around 24,000 residents in 8,755 apartments when the complex was completed, already had 110,000 applicants as its first building opened. The first apartments rented for around $60 per month for a one-bedroom, $70 for a two-bedroom and $80 for a three-bedroom.
The complex, which cost $112 million to build and covered an 18-block area bordered by First Avenue, Avenue C and 14th and 20th streets, was developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The project began in 1943, following the passage of a state law that encouraged insurance companies to invest in development that would aid in slum clearance. Construction required the demolition of 600 buildings and the relocation of around 11,000 residents.
Controversy surrounded Stuyvesant Town before it opened, when it was discovered that the chairman of MetLife, Frederick H. Ecker, was barring single people, unmarried couples and nonwhites from the project. However, a July 1947 court ruling declared that as it was a private development, Ecker was allowed to choose its residents in any way he saw fit. Upon Ecker’s retirement in 1950, MetLife revamped its selection policy, and three black families moved in that August.
Recently, Stuy Town has been at the center of a new controversy. Since the complex was purchased by Tishman Speyer Properties in 2006, its many market-rate units have experienced sharp increases in rent.