real estate history

1903: NYSE reopens in new Broad Street building The New York Stock Exchange officially opened its doors for business 116 years ago this month,...

1916: Chelsea’s housing market catches industrial windfall With local industry booming, developers were “hastening” to build up Chelsea’s housing stock, the New York Times reported...

1900: Plans filed for NYC’s then-largest office building The Alliance Realty Company assumed the title deed for two plots in the Financial District, the New...

1908: New Mutual Alliance building brings high finance to the LES The Mutual Alliance Trust Company’s third office building officially opened for business in the...

1887: Health department clamps down on speculative tenement market The New York City Health Department spearheaded a crackdown on speculative real estate investors 131 years...

1908: Shareholders look to sell Madison Square Garden Everyone has limits, and the owners of the Madison Square Garden Company drew the line at “twenty...

1883: Opening night at the Met Opera marks victory for nouveaux riches The Metropolitan Opera House opened in its first location, on Broadway and 39th...

1888: Foundation laid for Natural History Museum enlargement The excavation for the American Museum of Natural History’s expansion was completed 130 years ago this month,...

1893: Hospital sale puts a value on Fifth Avenue The $2.4 million sale of St. Luke’s Hospital 125 years ago this month was reported in...

From TRD Los Angeles: David Silverman spends his time tracking down the minutiae of Los Angeles residences for modern-day billionaires curious about their historic...

Developers are turning to history to attract buyers to their condominium conversions, asking architectural historians to help give more context to their buildings and...

From the March issue: 1880: The Met’s biggest donation to date — its first building The Metropolitan Museum of Art moved into its current home on...

1911: Landowners demand lower taxes if new subway tunnel isn’t opened A group of landowners in Queens demanded that the city either reduce their...

From the October issue: 1904: New York City’s first official subway line opens The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened New York City’s first official subway...

From the September issue: 1776: New Yorkers set fire to southern Manhattan amid British invasion A suspicious fire devastated what is now the Financial District...

From the August issue: 1910: Oldest NYC land records go missing Nearly two dozen of the “oldest and most valuable real estate records of old...

From the July issue: The owner of a five-foot-wide “spite house”— built in the midst of a vendetta between neighbors — secured a permit...

From the June issue: An unnamed tenant signed a lease to pay a whopping $9,000 per year for 440 square feet of prime Times Square...

From the May issue: A New York State Supreme Court judge tossed out an effort to stop the city’s acquisition of the Mott Haven...

From the April issue: Newly elected Gov. Herbert Henry Lehman, whose father, Mayer Lehman, co-founded Lehman Brothers, moved to protect thousands of small investors in...