2. Prince George Hotel Ballroom
The Prince George Hotel, built in the Beaux-Arts style by Howard Greenley in 1904, was one of those destined-to-be-destroyed treasures as it sat decaying for years in the early 1990s on 28th street between 5th Avenue and Madison. Once a lavish hotel most notably known for being the first with private bathrooms in each room, The Prince George fell on hard times in the 1970s when it was purchased and converted by New York City into a welfare hotel—one of the most dangerous and notorious in the city.
In the 1990s, the non-profit Common Ground, an organization dedicated to developing and sustaining supportive and affordable housing for the chronically homeless in New York, purchased the vacant building from the city and through private, state, and federal funds, and collaborating with the Preservation League of New York State and New York Landmarks Conservancy, converted the building back into a livable residence with 416 single occupancy apartments.
n 2004, the momentous renovation of the neo-Renaissance ballroom began, and it is now rented out as The Prince George Ballroom with 100% of the profit feeding back into their non-profit organization.
