Greene Street block as a lab for … global economic development??

yup
I don’t want to leave the impression that I regularly peruse economics blogs about global development issues, but I did come across this February 22 small blog post by an econ prof with NYU’s Development Research Institute that focused on the Greene Street block in Soho from Houston to Prince Streets:

We usually analyze Development at the national level. Why not other levels? At the other extreme, here is a short and surprising illustrated history of one city block.

As advertised, it is both short and illustrated, so I won’t attempt to summarize (much).

I don’t know that Professor Easterly’s got an academic point about development to make there, other than to note the twists and turns of one Soho block … as a way to say “you never know what can develop”?? I don’t hik I will spoil anything by quoting his closing:

Its history had been a series of unexpected events involving many actors, from Nicholas Bayard to the yellow fever mosquito to Anthony Arnoux to James Bogardus to Jane Jacobs to George Maciunas, few or none of whom could have anticipated the outcomes of their actions. Like many other examples, Soho illustrates that a lot of economic development is a surprise.

Let me summarize, a bit:

He’s got images from before this block was a “block”, in an undeveloped condition (pre-European), as farmland from at least the 1660s (a 1768 image), and a 1782 map showing a 100 foot hill and a meandering creek (neither survives, obviously). One focus is 139 Greene Street, built in 1824 after a yellow fever outbreak pushed wealthy families north, which became a brothel by the 1860s (one of 23 on this one block!). The cast iron factory next door dates from 1880 and represents the “next boom … in more traditional sectors”. That is 135 Greene Street, which looks like it was converted to coops in 1980 (more, soon).

The short and illustrated history touches on the Robert Moses plans and the Jane Jacobs team response, leading to the beginning of “Soho”:

In 1967, with real estate prices depressed by the uncertainty about the Expressway and the deterioration of the neighborhood, a Lithuanian-American artist named George Maciunas had bought one of the old factories and converted into a studio and residence for his artist co-op. Many artists followed in his wake. The neighborhood was not zoned for residences, so the pioneer artist-residents lived illegally, finding ways to tap into power and water supplies.

The Life Magazine photo of this block from March 27, 1970 has become iconic (I think I’ve seen it at the Soho Alliance website). Unmentioned is the tension between artists arriving because the area is more or less dying commercially, and the hustle and bustle in that photo. But this is a short history and I digress ….

A hop, skip and a jump take us through Soho-as-gallery-center to boutiques and the Apple store. More than 450 years in 12 images.

the non-mall part of current Soho
His last image represents the current high-end boutique era of Soho. That is 142 Greene Street, which the menswear designer Paul Smith bought in 2006 for $27.25mm, and that is his store on the ground floor.

From the New York Times on May 9, 1997: there were still more than 200 art galleries in Soho, but John Weber was about to move “one of Soho’s oldest galleries” to West 20 Street, a time when; Pace Wildenstein was still in the building; Metro Pictures had already moved to West 24 Street from 150 Greene Street.

that old whore house
One cited source for the history of 139 Greene Street is the always invaluable Christopher Gray and his New York Times Streetscapes feature; on November 19, 1989 he wrote that the area had become safe for haberdashery fans within 30 years after that prostitution bust, and notes the business typical of the area after World War I:

In 1890, the Real Estate Record & Guide described Greene Street as a center for the hatter’s trade and noted the end of its former status as a center of prostitution, saying: ”A man can walk through now without being himself too frequently accosted through closed window shutters.”

The house at 139 Greene remained more or less intact and telephone directories after the 1920’s give a succession of typical SoHo businesses: trucking, rags, paper stock and wastepaper.       

my parochial concerns
Of course I love to read about history like this, but this blog is about residential real estate, so I am going to quibble with the professor’s description of “this block … [as] one of the wealthiest blocks in the city” (assuming that can be measured by the value of residential lofts sold). Yes, this is prime Soho, but other blocks nearby have a history of more valuable residential sales.

I count only only 6 coops or condos on this block, plus one rental. And only two sales since 2007, both of which sold under $1,000/ft. 134 Greene Street #3 sold in July 2010 at $2.8mm for “3,000 sq ft” and #5N at 135 Greene Street (next door to one old whorehouse) sold in April 2009 at $2.65mm for “2,775 sq ft”. 135 Greene Street is a 10-unit coop, with this fascinating nugget about architect-owners: “a long line of six highly accomplished architects who have owned or currently own and live here”.

Lovely lofts on a lovely loft block; just not among the top-selling lofts in Soho. Thanks to Professor Easterly for the history and tour.

a kindred spirit?
Not a dry or dismal economist, the econ guy has enough of a sense of humor to conclude his personal bio with this nugget:

He is believed to be the most famous development economist named after a wind direction.

the h/t for leading a Manhattan real estate blogger to an economics development blog goes to polymath Andrew Sullivan

© Sandy Mattingly 2011