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Property has seen a vast evolution in its development inside of New York. New York essentially invented the modern skyscraper, thanks to the development of harder materials that could support such large structures. Unlike other cities though, New York saw the development of skyscrapers as a requirement, due to the limited amount of real estate located on the island of Manhattan. It really is a city that established the development of upward instead of outward. While there are still more traditional homes that are built in some of the outer boroughs of New York, such as Queens, property development has seen a rather wide change in historical significance throughout the city. For more information on current property development, I discovered you can read about Prestige International.

New York and Chicago proved to be the major developmental cities in the United States for the great evolution of property development. For the most part, up until the American Civil War in the 1860s, the majority of buildings inside New York were low-rise, reaching only a few levels in height. Some would reach as high as four or five floors, but this really proved to be the maximum allowable height for the technology at the time. Before this time, most of the buildings where made out of wood, but the Great Fire of 1835 destroyed much of these cities in New York, so the city looked towards brick constructions. As the major port city for immigrants looking to move to the United States, the population skyrocket in New York, as the number of people living in the city tripped between the 1840s and 1870s. In order to accommodate the quickly growing city, property development companies and the government itself understood the need to start to build upwards, as room was quickly running out to expand outwards.

The eventual development of steel made it possible to build taller buildings that could support more weight. The first "skyscrapers" began development between the 1880 up until the turn of the century. The first really skyscraper emerged in Chicago (a 10 story building), but Chicago's early development didn't prove very desirable as the use of a large amount of steel was required, so most space was reserved for small offices, usually only about 12 feet across before another beam has to be installed. New York avoided this issue by waiting until some additional technological advances were made and, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, New York City entered what is now known as the "First Great Age" of skyscrapers regarding property development.

The Singer Tower became the tallest building in the world in New York, which opened in 1908 at a peak hight of 47 stories (187 meters). Later buildings in the next several years included the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower that sat at 210 meters and several other constructions, including the Woolworth Building, which saw completion in 1913 and was 55 stories tall (241 meters). This became the most desirable location for residential areas in not only the city of New York, but possibly the entire world. It offered tenants who could afford it amenities they never dreamed of, including the world's fastest elevator and a swimming pool. To make sure everyone could see the building throughout the city, it was topped with red and white floodlights that would showcase the cathedral like peak.

Following the First World War, more and more residential skyscrapers started to pop up in New York, including brand new styles, such as that done in Art Deco, instead of a neo-gothic look that offers residential property development.

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