From theFORUMVAULT
Presenting some
of the industry’s
highlights over
the past
65 years
IN THE APRIL ISSUE...
...IN 1946
Among decisions made by municipal authorities across the country that year was the New
York State Assembly’s passage of the Conrad-Crisona bill, which allowed the New York
City Council to use parking meters and
charge a fee for parking. But don’t curse the
Assembly yet; it also passed a Crews bill per-mitting the New York City Park Commissioner
to contract with the New York Zoological
Society for the operation and maintenance
of the Coney Island Aquarium. Meanwhile,
in an effort to relieve its traffic congestion
and parking problem, the Detroit Common
Council adopted an ordinance requiring
new buildings in non-Downtown areas to
provide off-street parking space.
That same year, real estate firms celebrated
the return of some of their staffers did military duty in WWII. Brown, Wheelock, Harris,
Stevens Inc., for instance, reported that four
of its top executives returned to their desks
after three or more years of service.
...IN 1955
“Idlewild—Airport with a Future.” That was
the headline of a feature spelling out the
details of the Port of New York Authority’s
plan for a $60-million passenger terminal
development at what was then Idlewild
Airport (above). The plan called for 10 buildings that would accommodate 140 aircraft at
a time. “An innovation in airport design, the
development will comprise an 11-city-block-
long International Arrival Building,” we
18 REAL ESTATE FORUM APRIL 2011
reported. The annual volume of “
long-distance travelers” using the airport was projected to top 8. 5 million by 1965.
...IN 1961
One of the first steps in the development of
a project that would change the face of
Lower Manhattan was taken. The Port of
New York Authority submitted a proposal
endorsing the development of “a great
World Trade Center” on a 16-acre site in the
New York-New Jersey Port District. The plan
called for a multi-level Concourse, 72-story
World Trade Mart, a circular eight-story
Securities Exchange, 20-story Trade Center
Gateway and a 30-story World Commerce
Exchange. The
P.A. said development of the
Trade Center
would be economically feasible, requiring an
investment
of $335
million.
...IN 1967
Real estate tech averse? Our April issue
ran a story about management firms turning to electronic billing. The choices were
either to process the billing through banks
or install what we termed “internal data
processing equipment.” The move did not
come without worries, however: “One of
the early fears expressed by real estate
firms was that banks would be taking over
many of the functions heretofore carried
out by their own organizations.”
Outsourcing? What are the chances?
Remember going to the movies and
watching those warning ads telling you to
“Stop Pay TV?” That didn’t go so well, and in
1967 we ran a piece about how the City’s
Department of Franchises had authorized
two firms, Cable TV Services and
TelePromp Ter Manhattan CATV “to install a
CATV network”
in the city.
(That’s Miss
Cable TV being
crowned, by the
way). Not to
worry, subscrib-
ers. The article
reassured us
that the system
was compatible
with both color and black-and-white sets.
...IN 1998
A study by the Commercial Investment Real
Estate Institute and Landauer Associates
found that the national average cap rate for
commercial real estate fell to 9.7% at the
end of 1997, the lowest level since the
industry’s liquidity crisis in the early 1990s.
Nowadays, that rate would be considered
high in most markets.
...IN 2004
The one-time tallest building in the world
changed hands as MetLife sold its stake in
the Sears Tower to a New York City investment group. The 3.5-million-square-foot
Chicago landmark fetched somewhere near
$900 million. Five years after the sale, the
Sears Tower was officially renamed the Willis
Tower after tenant Willis Group Holdings,
which acquired naming rights. ◆
The Vault isn’t just a fun flash-
back. It’s all part of REAL ESTATE
FORUM’s 65th Anniversary Special,
culminating in the September 2011
issue. For information on how to
participate, contact:
Sule Aygoren Carranza, editor-in-chief,
saygoren@alm.com
Gregg W. Christensen, publisher,
gchristensen@alm.com
www.reforum.com
