Fred F. French

Frederick Fillmore French (October 14, 1883 – August 30, 1936) was a real estate developer active primarily in New York City. His largest developments have included the Fred F. French Building, Tudor City, and Knickerbocker Village.

For the New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s, and 1940s, see Freddie French.

Frederick Fillmore French
Born(1883-10-14)October 14, 1883
Manhattan
DiedAugust 30, 1936(1936-08-30) (aged 52)
Pawling, New York
EducationHorace Mann School
OccupationReal estate developer
Known forTudor City
Knickerbocker Village
Fred F. French Building
Spouse(s)Cordelia W. French
Children4

Biography

He was born in Manhattan, New York City, on October 14, 1883, and initially lived at East 86th Street on the Upper East Side.[1]:2[2]:14 His middle name, Fillmore, honored his great-uncle on his mother's side, President Millard Fillmore.[3] He grew up at East 162nd Street in the Bronx and attended the Horace Mann High School through a Pulitzer scholarship.[1]:2[2]:14[4] Although French's mother was a college graduate, his father was a poor cigar maker who died when French was young. French was the oldest of four siblings and, in his youth, supported his family by taking part-time jobs.[1]:2[2]:14

After graduating high school, French went to Princeton University for one year before moving to Mexico "for a taste of ranching". In 1905, he returned to New York City and started taking engineering classes at Columbia University.[1]:2–3[2]:14–15

Career
Fred F. French Building

French founded the Fred F. French Companies in 1910, aged 27, with one boy on his payroll and a $15 per week salary for himself. French's first purchase was his Bronx house. French prospered in spite of a "betrayal by his first partner", and in 1920, took out a loan to build a 16-story building at 41st Street and Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. By the early 1920s, French's former Columbia professor and some of his early employers were working for him. In 1925, the French Companies commissioned the Fred F. French Building at Fifth Avenue and 45th Street as its new headquarters. At the time of the French Building's 1927 completion, the company was involved in at least $90 million worth of investments.[1]:3[2]:15

Tudor City

French built Tudor City, a housing development on Manhattan's East Side, for the rising middle class in the 1920s.[5] Early the following decade, he also developed Knickerbocker Village, middle-class housing on the Lower East Side between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. His original intention for the project was to build housing for "junior Wall Street executives".[6] Knickerbocker Village was important in the history of landlord–tenant law. When the tenants were to take possession of their apartments, they found conditions to be unlivable.[7][8] The tenants formed the Knickerbocker Village Tenants Association and started a strike, withholding their rent checks until their grievances were dealt with. The conflict that arose from the tenants' dissatisfaction led to New York City's rent control laws.

French was reportedly most interested in his work, and he supposedly had few acquaintances.[1]:6[2]:18 One aspect of his work was what he called the "French Plan" which prioritized small returns on large ventures, rather than large returns on small ventures. As such, the French Companies were split into several smaller companies, which handled investment, design, construction, and management. After constructing a development, the French Companies turned it over at its actual cost, without additional expenses.[1]:4–5[2]:16–17 Before the construction of the Fred F. French Building, the French Plan was applied exclusively to small residential developments.[1]:5[2]:17 In addition to Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village, French was also involved in the planning of what would have been the world's tallest building on Sixth Avenue, although this plan was abandoned in 1932.[9]

Personal life

French was married to Cordelia Williams, with whom he had four children:[10]

  • Theodore French
  • John Winslow French (1918–1999), who married Adeline Greer.[11]
  • Frederick F. French, Jr.
  • Ellen Millard French, who married Ernest McKay.[3]

The Frenches lived at 1140 Fifth Avenue in New York City.[10]

He died on August 30, 1936, of a heart attack at his summer home, Hammersley Hills, in Pawling, New York, that he had been going to since 1929.[12][13] His estate was valued at under $10,000 and did not include any real estate holdings.[14]

Legacy

The life of Fred F. French and his contribution to the development of New York City was covered in detail by Alexander Rayden in "The People's City, A History of the Influence and Contribution of Mass Real Estate Syndication in the Development of New York City".[15][16]

References
  1. "Fred F. French Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. March 18, 1986. pp. 2–3. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. "Fred F. French Building" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. December 19, 2003. pp. 14–15. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  3. Alpern, Andrew (1992). Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486273709. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  4. "Irving S. Broun, Realty Man, Dies. Retired President of Fred French Investing Was 82". The New York Times. January 4, 1969. Retrieved January 14, 2009. He had attended the Horace Mann School with the late Fred F. French and later helped him plan the erection and promotion of Tudor City, ...
  5. "Mrs. Frederick French". The New York Times. October 31, 1960. Retrieved January 14, 2009. Her husband, who died in 1936, was chairman of the Fred F. French Companies, which built Tudor City and other large developments. Surviving are a daughter ...
  6. "Knickerbocker Village". Time magazine. October 15, 1934. Retrieved January 14, 2009. In 1929 Realtor Fred Fillmore French began buying land on the lower East Side. By swearing his 42 brokers to secrecy and using dummy corporations, he managed to get some 15 acres for $5,000,000. Then in 1931 he announced a grandiose scheme for the erection of a $50,000,000 development for junior Wall Street executives. At this point he found that he could not get credit. At the same time Fred F. French Operators, Inc. began passing its dividends on $14,000,000 of preferred stock. The project remained only a scheme with a staggering upkeep in land taxes.
  7. Morrison, James. "Who in the World Was Fred F. French?". City Journal (Autumn 1998). Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  8. Naison, Mark. "From Eviction Resistance to Rent Control – Tenant Activism in the Great Depression: The rebirth of Activism". In Lawson, Ronald; Naison, Mark (eds.). The Tenant Movement in New York City, 1904-1984. ISBN 0-8135-1203-4. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  9. "6th Av. Tower Plan Finally Abandoned". The New York Times. August 23, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  10. Special To The New York Times (August 31, 1936). "FRED F. FREHGH DIES $tlDDEHLY IJP-STATE; Leader in Developing New York Residential Sections Rose From Poverty, HAD NOVEL FINANCE PLAN Tudor .City and Knickerbocker; Village Were the Builder's Chief Accomplishments". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  11. "John Winslow French '39 *42". Princeton Alumni Weekly. January 21, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  12. "Died". Time magazine. September 7, 1936. Retrieved January 14, 2009. Frederick Fillmore French, 52, Manhattan builder (Tudor City, Knickerbocker Village); of angina pectoris; in Pawling, N. Y. An admirer of the late Thomas Edison, he worked late, slept little, never drank or attended the theatre, assigned his staff daily readings in Elbert Hubbard.
  13. "Fred F. French Dies Suddenly". The New York Times. August 30, 1936. Retrieved January 14, 2009. Leader in Developing New York Residential Sections Rose From Poverty. Tudor City and Knickerbocker Village Were the Builder's Chief Accomplishments.
  14. "F.F. FRENCH'S WILL FILED; Builder's Estate, With No Realty, Valued at 'Less Than $10,000.'". The New York Times. September 4, 1936. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  15. www.thepeoplescity.com
  16. Greg Aunapu (May 29, 2009). "'French Plan' ahead of its time". The Real Deal New York.
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