From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 305 300 Acres of New York Land - Time to Laugh

Chapter 305 300 Acres of New York Land - Time to Laugh

"Morningside Heights" is a poetic name that actually blends geographical features, literary imagination, and 19th-century folk customs.

This did not originate from an official naming ceremony, but was gradually accepted and solidified in the course of historical evolution.

Morningside Heights is located on the west bank of the Manhattan Peninsula, between East 110th and 125th Streets, across the Hudson River. It is a basalt plateau that is significantly higher than the surrounding area, with an average elevation of about 120 to 150 feet, or about 36 to 45 meters.

This high ground slopes from east to west, facing east, where the morning sun shines unobstructed across the entire area. 19th-century inhabitants often described it as, "Standing on this high ground and seeing the first rays of sunlight cross the East River and illuminate the entire ridge, it felt as if one were bathed in the morning light."

This is the best piece of land on New York's Upper West Side, a place with excellent feng shui.

So, on his way here, Larry spotted this breathtaking land at a glance. At that time, it was still farmland and barren slopes, so Larry kept his eyes on this land as the three families divided it up.

Of course, the core reason Larry coveted this land wasn't the scenery or the feng shui, or even its location along the subway line, but rather...

Larry knew that this place would soon be chosen as the new campus for Columbia University.

If I can buy this land, its long-term value will far exceed the price of the land itself!

But before the land was officially transferred to his name, Larry just wanted to play dumb, as if he was just trying to take advantage of some farmland in the suburbs.

Therefore, when Larry pointed his finger to the Morningside Heights, the smiles he gave to Astor IV and the other two families were obsequious.

"Since you gentlemen want me to buy some cheap land, then I'm sorry to say that." Larry smiled and looked at King Astor IV and the other two.

Astor nodded. "This is a good choice, much better than the Chimney Hollow you just picked. But is it only 200 acres? I thought it was more than that."

Before Larry could answer, the lawyer took two steps forward, bent down to look, and then explained,

"Mr. Astor, the entire Morningside Heights covers approximately 450 acres, roughly half the size of Central Park, and your family's land occupies a central location. Some time ago, the Episcopal Diocese purchased three acres from the edge of your family's land to build a St. John's Cathedral."

Astor nodded, then looked up at Larry. "So you're planning to spend your life in the church?"

"Yes! It makes me feel blessed." Larry looked serious. But in reality, he had no idea what St. John's Cathedral was... He hadn't seen it when he came this morning.

King Astor IV nodded. "Very well, I've heard the Episcopal Church is going to build a dome there that's even taller than Westminster Abbey. Once it's finished, New Yorkers will need a reason to hold their heads high, which have been bent by money... I have no problem with that. Now, let's see what the other two domes do..."

As he spoke, he looked at the two agents, and the reply he received was, "We have no objections. Let this gentleman buy the land at the market price."

Seeing that neither side had any objections, the lawyer picked up a notebook, searched for a while, and then wrote down this line:

"Oh, sir, the fair price here in Morningside Heights is currently $2000 per acre, while the piece of land you just pointed out in the Upper East Side, which is the shantytown of German workers, is more expensive, about $2400 per acre."

Larry secretly calculated that the prime land near the Waldorf Hotel he had previously bought was priced at $20 per acre, while Morningside Heights had a discount factor of about 1%, costing only $2000, which was still acceptable.

Before Larry could speak, Astor frowned and asked, "How come the price in Chimney Hollow is higher than in Morningside Heights?"

"They're a mile apart, and Chimney Hollow is closer to the Upper East Side and the heart of Central Park," the lawyer replied.

King Astor IV nodded, glanced at Larry, and asked, "If you intend to take them, is this price acceptable?"

Larry grinned broadly and said shamelessly, "Of course we hope for a lower price... It's such a large piece of land, I reckon we'll have to take out a loan, but I don't want to tell anyone that you're dividing up the land..."

Astor waved his hand, "Make it cheaper! I'll sell it to you cheaper, it's all wasteland anyway."

"Okay!" The lawyer turned to look at the other two agents, who had no objections, and then said, "Then I'll use the internally calculated prices: $1800 per acre for the 100 acres on the Upper East Side, and $1500 per acre for Morningside Heights. Is that acceptable?"

"Okay!" Larry nodded in approval.

The lawyer wrote numbers in his notebook with a pen, then said to Larry, "I need to calculate the exact area of ​​these two plots. I'll get back to you the real figures later."

Larry smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"

So Larry's land purchase was settled. According to the lawyer's calculations, Morningside Heights was 212.45 acres, with a price of $1500 per acre, for a total price of $318,675. The Upper East Side was 103.5 acres, with a price of $1800 per acre, for a total price of $186,300.

The two plots of land together will cost a total of $504,975.

Upon hearing this number, the other two agents looked up at Larry with puzzled expressions, simply unable to believe that Larry could come up with so much money.

Larry nodded anyway. "Sure! When can I bring the money to complete the process? And can I get the land title at the same time?"

"Monday is fine, if you can pay in full!" the lawyer replied.

Larry turned to look at Astor, a shy smile on his face...

Astor understood immediately. He smiled and shook his head, giving Larry a deep look, as if to say, "Since you've already done me a huge favor, fine, I'll do you another one!"

"Sir, my friend is still young, and raising this money is really difficult for him. How about this, I'll make the decision: the total price of the land will be reduced by $5—well, let's waive the odd change too—to a total of $45. On Monday, Mr. Livingston can pay half upfront, and then you can take him to get the land title deed done. The remaining half can be paid within three months."

The lawyer was slightly surprised, but nodded in agreement.

Larry was naturally delighted, after all, a simple smile saved him $50,000. This also illustrates a point: even if you can afford it, never try to show off in front of the wealthy… showing off means you won't get any advantage!

After helping King Astor IV divide the land, Larry declined the king's invitation to lunch and hurriedly left the White Shoes law firm. He then went to the Bank of New York and went directly to Henry Watson, the senior partner who had handled his business last time.

"Mr. Watson, has my Manhattan United Holdings company been registered yet?" Larry asked, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.

"It's all done! And the account has been linked as you instructed." Watson quickly grabbed a cigar and lit it for Larry.

Larry took a puff of his cigar, frowned, and said, "A domestic cigar?"

Watson's eyes narrowed, and he immediately said respectfully, "Please wait a moment... James! Quickly go and fetch the VIP-only Cuban cigars..."

Larry took a puff of the second cigar between his fingers before a smile appeared on his lips. "Not bad! This is the taste I'm looking for."

"Yes, Mr. Livingston," Watson said with a forced smile.

Actually, when Larry said "it tastes right," he wasn't just referring to his love for Cuban cigars... but rather that after he had acted like a pushover with Astor, he wanted to reverse the power dynamic and enjoy himself.

Larry thought for a few seconds, then looked at the other man through the smoke of his cigar. "Mr. Watson, I have a question for you. I might have a piece of land to hold, but as far as I know, there are annual costs associated with holding land. How can I find a way to offset these costs?"

"Approximately how big is the land you're referring to?"

"More than 300 acres!"

Watson looked thoughtful, paused for a moment, and then said, "If this land is in New York, then as you said, the cost of holding it is indeed not low. However, we have some means to help our clients..."

As he spoke, Watson rummaged through his desk and picked up a stack of documents. "The city government will charge a vacancy fee for undeveloped land. We would suggest that you use the land as collateral to get a low-interest loan from a finance company, and then reinvest it in current high-interest bonds, such as railroad bonds. This way you can create a positive interest rate arbitrage."

Larry listened for a moment, thought about it, and shook his head. "I don't like this plan."

Watson quickly flipped through his files and said, "Or you could donate some land to the city government—just some scraps will do—and let them build a park. That way you could get a five- to ten-year property tax exemption."

Larry nodded slowly. "This can be a backup plan. Anything else?"

Watson thought for a moment and said helplessly, "Then unless you set up a real estate company yourself... New York State law stipulates that stamp duty is levied on real estate transactions, but if you can inject the land into the company's equity, then you only need to transfer the equity in the future, which will not be considered a real estate transaction and you will not need to pay this tax."

Larry's eyes lit up. He thought to himself, "Isn't this just like the Dakta Apartments? Besides, it's just setting up another company. We can just put it under Manhattan United Capital."

"Any other benefits?" Larry asked, looking at the other person.

Seeing Larry's interest, Watson thought for a long time, his eyes darting around, before finally smiling and saying...

"If you do set up a real estate company, you can issue bonds for financing, or deduct your living expenses from the land... In short, the key point of doing this is tax avoidance."

Larry listened and thought. These things didn't particularly interest him, but the idea was right, and he could gradually make use of it.

With 300 acres of land in New York, I can already be secretly happy!

Larry turned to Watson and said, "Well then, Mr. Watson, I'll need your help to apply for another real estate development company for me. Let it be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manhattan United Investment. Get it set up first, and then I'll act accordingly."

"Yes, sir! No problem, sir!" Watson quickly replied.

"Do a good job! I will never let down those who help me," Larry instructed, a smile on his face.

.

After taking care of all these matters, Larry returned to the entrance of Paine Weber Securities Company by carriage.

As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Mr. K standing at the entrance of the business department, craning his neck and looking around, clearly waiting for him.

"Boss! You've finally shown up! Oh God, where have you been? Didn't you say you'd treat us to dinner?" Mr. K saw Larry and took a few steps to greet him.

Larry tossed two dollars to the coachman, walked up to Mr. K, frowned, and asked, "I should be asking you the same thing... You disappeared as soon as I came out."

"We were taken away by the NYPD... Damn it, they said there was some kind of assassination attempt before—oh, I guess that's the one you experienced—so let's get the car sorted out. Mr. Ford and I drove the car to the nearest police station, and after much pleading and bribing the sheriff, we were finally released!"

Mr. K looked at Larry with a wronged expression, "Boss, can this be reimbursed? Why haven't I encountered any good things on either of my two trips to New York with you..."

"Okay! The problem is... where is Henry Ford now? What about his car? Is it still impounded by the police?" Larry couldn't see Ford anywhere around him.

Mr. K pointed to the street corner, "At that corner! Strangely enough, he was just stopped by a weirdo who came running after hearing about it, and the guy insisted on debating whether cars are useful or not! That weirdo said the future definitely belongs to electric cars, and internal combustion engine cars can never become mainstream!"

Hearing this debate, Larry was momentarily stunned, instantly transported back to his past life when electric cars and gasoline cars were arguing about which had a better future...

No, electric cars already existed at this point? Who was pushing for industrial applications? And which stubborn fool blocked Henry Ford's path? Could the debate about whether internal combustion engine cars or electric cars had a brighter future really be resolved?

"Come on, take me to see! Who's such a goofball?" Larry said to Mr. K.

Mr. K led the way, and as they passed the street corner, Larry saw a Ford car parked across the road. He was talking to a middle-aged man of medium height, slightly overweight, wearing a wrinkled dark suit, while seven or eight onlookers watched.

Larry frowned as he looked at the two of them, feeling that the word "argument" was a bit inappropriate, because in fact, Henry Ford was standing there blankly, listening to the guy opposite him scolding him loudly, like a primary school student who had done something wrong.

After taking a few more steps, Larry could see clearly that the slightly chubby guy had a thick but neatly trimmed beard and sharp eyes. The two people standing behind him were not bystanders watching the show, but his assistants or bodyguards.

Not knowing what the other person had said before, Henry Ford awkwardly replied, "Sir, it's powered by an internal combustion engine, doesn't need rails or wires... it can run on any road, I just tested it myself!"

The man sneered, "Another one trying to replace the horse? Hey, Henry, use your brain... Horses don't leak oil or explode. Electric cars are quieter and have a wider range of applications! The future definitely belongs to electric cars."

Larry was taken aback, wondering how this person knew Ford's name. Was he an acquaintance of Henry?

He stepped forward, looked at the slightly overweight middle-aged man, and said loudly, "But we rode him all the way from Morning Edge Heights and got here in less than 30 minutes!"

The man abruptly turned to Larry, narrowing his eyes. "Electricity is the lifeblood of a city. Electricity is the future! Electric cars are still lacking something, but once batteries are perfected, gasoline cars will be unable to catch up!"

Larry thought to himself, "You're right, but that's over 100 years from now..."

"Sir, who are you? My friend owns his own internal combustion engine car, so what do you have to offer?" Larry asked.

However, before the man could continue speaking, Henry Ford suddenly looked at Larry, frowned, and said,

"Larry...you can't talk like that. This is my former boss, the respected inventor, Mr. Thomas Edison!"

(End of this chapter)