The Pokorny relatives were bound together financially for decades after the death of Michael Pokorny through the establishment of a family trust and real estate company. All of Michael’s children participated with the exception of Hannah Pokorny Haas. During that time the law required a husband’s signature for a wife to be involved in such an activity. Hannah was separated from her husband, Alexander Haas, which prevented her participation. Thus alternative arrangements were created for Hannah to benefit from the family’s assets.
Much of the decision-making and details on the Pokorny properties can be viewed in the Pokorny papers in the Manuscripts Department of Tulane University's Special Collections Division.
The following article was written at the height of the Roaring Twenties' economic boom and a few months after the 1927 Mississippi River floods, which was the worst natural distaster of the city until Hurricane Katrina. The article appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune Sunday Real Estate Section and its author, Herman Seiferth, was a well-known local journalist (he is also included in this genealogy). The optimism of the period is reflected in the tone of the article. However, real estate like all sectors of the economy took a big hit in the Great Depression, which began two years after this article was printed. A decade later the Pokorny descendants would dissolve their family corporation, which had kept them financially tied together for many years.
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sunday September 4, 1927, Sec, 2 p. 1.
INVESTMENT OVER FIFTY YEARS SEES ALL HOPES PROVEN
Facts Have Not Changed and Insure Future Doubly Safe
By Herman J. Seiferth
“Real estate prices in New Orleans are not yet too high. We are in a position to make the positive statement because every lease we sign is at an advanced return. While we do not expect any immediate increases, we are just as sure that present values will hold and gradually grow. There are no bargains available, and there is nothing in sight to warrant any predictions of a break. Money is easy to obtain on good investments, and confidence in New Orleans property makes it a very liquid asset. Of course, banks must be and are particular about their loans, and do not encourage any wildcat speculation. Legitimate investments constitute desirable security, and are acceptable as such. If there has been any bad period it has passed, and the future is expertly regarded as excellent. “
The little summary may itself be classified as expert, coming from Ralph P. Levy [sic], manager of the Pokorny estate stores and property. From a realty standpoint it is one of the very largest in the city, probably ranking second on the list. The accumulation was begun by M. Pokorny, who kept a shoe store opposite the St. Charles theater. After his death his children adopted his investment policy, and his grandchildren have joined in increasing the family’s holdings to immense proportions. Income has expanded with steady persistence, and has trebled on the average, so that the estate has refrained from selling.
OPERATION BEGAN A HALF CENTURY AGO
None of the members of the Pokorny group will talk figures, but are more than willing to cite facts, and these are quite as convincing, for figures are only reliable when based on facts. The pioneer Pokorny concentrated on St. Charles street, because of the strides achieved by that thoroughfare under his observation. Experience convinced him that it was the favorite spot for men’s trade, and he was sure that its development along that line would enhance the value of every foot between Canal and Poydras streets, and as at that time Canal street was the very limited center of the city’s real estate basis be appraised highest the property nearest the central highway. Accordingly, when the building at 124 St. Charles in 1880 became available for $28,000 he promptly closed the deal and moved his shoe business there. His theory was so quickly corroborated that he continued to place all the money he could in the street, which he considered to have a preferred destiny. At his death in 1902 he was the owner of five large pieces of St. Charles street real estate. All were rented advantageously, and the heirs shared the expanding shoe business without taking up the matter of acquiring more property.
David Pokorny, the son who succeeded as manager of the family finances, inherited the father’s faith in the growth of New Orleans, but his vision took in more territory. One of the thoroughfares he analyzed as soonest slated for a spectacular rise was South Rampart street. Some property there was announced for sale at an auction, and some instinct drew him to the auction room. The offers seemed to him ridiculously low and he successfully entered the competition. After the excitement subsided, though he felt that his purchase was sound, he had his misgivings about the reception of the news by the family. Much to his surprise his brother John and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Kamien, although they confessed that they had not devoted any study to conditions, coincided with his judgment and agreed to assume their part of the obligation. Once their attention was attracted to reality, and as each investment made good, they decided to put all the means they could muster into property. In 1906 the Pokorny Realty Company was formed so as to keep the family activities and funds separate, but they could have relieved themselves of any worry on that score, for all the heirs entered the company, its operations assumed a major character, and real estate is an important part of the Pokorny fortune, popularly appraised at several million.
FORTUNE A TRIBUTE TO CITY’S GROWTH
There is splendid tribute to the city’s steady growth in the advance which was accrued. It was this advance which made the amazing accumulation possible, for it was out of the income from the rentals of the properties that the Pokornys persistently acquired more realty. Their faith in New Orleans was further evidenced by their holding on to their realty possessions though they could have disposed of each and every piece at considerable gain. There were only two occasions on which they consented to change their holding rule. One was when the Whitney-Central bank sought space for the magnificent structures which it erected on both the St. Charles and Common streets. The bank paid handsomely for the ground it obtained from the estate, but the Pokornys felt certain of ampler gain and regarded the parting as a contribution to the city’s progress. The other was Mrs. Bertha Kamien’s surrender of the St. Charles street structures near Poydras, in order to achieve the ambition to control the commanding corner of Canal and Bourbon streets. The family ran true to form by later buying back the St. Charles street buildings by paying the advance required. Mrs. Kamien and her family leading in the repurchase. The transaction kept straight the record of the Pokorny faith, and kept the vast estate virtually intact.
Some of the most important investments were made during David Pokorny’s chieftaincy, though it did not stop after his death. On St. Charles street, in addition to the properties already mentioned and a number of others in every block to Poydras streets, the estate owns the Common street corner long occupied by the Association of Commerce, the Gravier street corner in which the Louisiana Club has its quarters, the Liberty theater and others. There also are holdings on South Rampart and other thoroughfares. The holding for which it paid the most was the old Cassard corner at Canal and Carondelet streets. It was bought at an auction for $535,000 by Coleman E. Adler, husband of one of the Pokorny heirs, and though many at that time regarded it as an outstanding price for the narrow space the combined estate readily took it off his hands, and considers it one of their choicest of the Pokorny investments. Mr. Adler individually owns the Canal street structure nearby which his jewelry establishment occupies, and his son and his son-in-law, Milton Adler and Neville Levy, have consolidated the St. Charles avenue stretch from the Standard Oil headquarters to the corner of Josephine street. Mrs. Kamien owns the Liggett building at St. Charles and Common streets, the Gluck restaurant property on St. Charles near Poydras, and the Canal and Bourbon corner. Her son, Cyril Kamien, as the result of his experience in managing her property affairs, has become a full-fledged realtor, and is a member of the Gulce and Kamien firm.
THE EXPERIENCE OF THREE GENERATIONS
The continuous Pokorny experience, covering three generations, does not reveal a single loss through investment in New Orleans real estate. “There is no hazard in New Orleans property,” declared Mr. Kamien, “if you have the money to enable holding and waiting. Some losses have resulted where the owner did not have the means to tide over, but for no other reason. There are bound to be some reactions in every line of business, and there invariably are period of slack demand. But real estate especially is sure to come back, and if property owners are prepared to wait when patience becomes necessary profit is inevitable. As far as the Pokorny story is concerned there is nothing mysterious or complicated about it. Mr. Pokorny and this successors looked around for sound investments with good returns and a reasonable prospect for enhancement in value, and they found it in New Orleans real estate. There was nothing exceptional about their operations, and the city has invariably rewarded those who displayed confidence in its merits. The city’s possibilities are greater than ever, it’s out-look brighter. It is destined to and will be one of the world’s capitals. Many factories are looking this way, and the influx of population will be tremendous . It may be three or four years before the country’s capital starts South in earnest, but when it does come in quantity the change will be dazzling and the advance thrilling.”
Mr. Levey, who directs the estate, returned recently from the markets of the East and North, and conditions which others might have regarded as challenging optimism convinced him that the revival of property had begun. He says that he found merchandise high, which he has learned to know means good business and expanded activity. Business improvement always stimulates investment and advance values. Manufacturers are very sanguine and very busy. In fact, the demand has already outstripped their production capacity, which means that prices will go up.
Everybody, he said, was talking about New Orleans. The river flood was undoubtedly a slap in the face, but any injury will be more than recompensed. The fact that the city remained safe and dry during the severe strain is proving a fine advertisement and has attracted the attention and the interest of capital. Government control of the river is unanimously urged as national justice an responsibility, and it recognized that control will mean the dispatching of large funds in this direction and their expenditure in the territory of which New Orleans is natural headquarters.
“The lull which has been noticed here is only temporary,” philosophized Mr. Levey. “There will be complete reaction from the flood scare. The near future may not see any very decided changes, but the benefits will eventually be large and lasting. There will have to be a drastic official tendency toward improvement. People have been buying real estate in and around the city in the anticipation of bridges across lakes and rivers, the completion of the Claiborne avenue highway, the erection of a union depot and an auditorium, the extension of the city’s drainage and other imperative civic requirements. Investments were at peak prices, and the investors were called upon to pay increased taxes based upon the higher prices. Some practical progress has been achieved, and New Orleans must make sure of the remainder. Nobody will lose any money invested in New Orleans property, though they may have to wait a while until more of the expected improvements materialize. Meantime better business will influence property values. That was the sentiment of the wise money I encountered, and it appears inclined to act upon its own diagnosis. It will help New Orleans to build greater, and make investment in this city more attractive and desirable than ever, though the dividends so far have been as generous as they have been certain.”
1868 - 1938