The development was named after Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), a Civil War Union army general and the 18th President of the United States.

MHI helped lobby for slum clearance in the 1940s with the intention of using the legislation to displace residents on the fringes of the neighborhood in order to keep the area middle-class.

The New York Times noted the racial identification of the first five families to move into the Grant Houses: "two white, two Negro and one Puerto Rican.

"[7] President of City College, Buell G. Gallagher felt that the project would quickly become segregated, estimating 90% of residents to be African-American.

The development displaced roughly 7,000 residents who were mostly African-American or Puerto Rican and did little to improve older buildings nearby.