by Laurel | August 14th, 2009
August 14, 1909, page 12
Real Estate Values Going Up There Rapidly
A noteworthy feature in real estate circles during the last two years has been the rapid evolution of Race street from the cheapest of tenement locations into a manufacturing store-house and wholesale business location. This is almost as noteworthy as the change from the original Race street of the 70’s, when it was the aristocratic street of the town, to the 90’s when it had almost become one of the slums of Holyoke. In 1897 the Chases, Flaggs, Chapins, Richards, Newtons and others of the first Holyoke families resided there. Twenty-five years later no one lived on Race street i the large majority of cases who could live anywhere else. During the last few years the Koegel manufacturing company, the Judd paper company, the Holyoke supply company, the Holyoke hydrant and valve company, the White paper box company, have either established plants of built additions and there is little doubt but that eventually the entire street from Dwight to Sargeant will be taken up with the business and manufacturing sites. The railroad running the whole length of the street affords unusual conveniences for business and the street is handy for the employees. The concrete effect of this in a financial sense had been to push up the land values on the street. While for a number of years the street was simply used for poor tenements the land was not worth the assessed value, being rated at from 25 to 40 cents a foot, to-day land in the best portions of the street is worth as high as $1.25 a square foot, and in time to come it is probably that land will be rated at nearly $1 a foot the entire length of the street.
From The Springfield Republican.
