Constructed between 1902 and 1905 as one of several apartment hotels along Broadway on the Upper West Side, the Marseilles was designed by architect Harry Allan Jacobs in the Beaux-Arts style.

The hotel was completed in October 1905 and was originally operated by Louis Lukes before being resold several times in the 20th century.

The structure contained a refugee center for Holocaust survivors in the 1940s, and the Marseilles became a single room occupancy hotel in the late 20th century.

The Marseilles is located at 2689–2693 Broadway, at the southwest corner with 103rd Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

[4] Before European colonization of modern-day New York City, the site was part of the hunting grounds of the Wecquaesgeek Native American tribe.

[6][8] While the Manhattan street grid was laid out as part of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, the neighborhood remained undeveloped through the late 19th century.

[15] The design of the Marseilles is similar to that of the Manhasset Apartments several blocks north, which also has a brick facade and a mansard roof.

[13] The western elevation, which is partially visible from the street, is clad with plain brown brick and has three windows on each story.

On the fourth to seventh stories, the facade is generally made of red brick, except for the stone window sills.

[17] The original main entrance to the building is in the central bay on 103rd Street, on the second story,[16] through an arch measuring 15 feet (4.6 m) tall.

[28] J. Arthur Pinchbeck, who owned the Netherlands Construction Company,[13] acquired a 100-by-125-foot (30 by 38 m) site at the southwest corner of Broadway and 103rd Street in March 1902, with plans to erect a nine-story apartment hotel there.

[50][52] The H. S. Clement & Son Company sold its leasehold of the Marseilles to James C. Ewing in 1911,[53][54] and the hotel's manager, Charles A. Weir, announced plans for a roof garden atop the building two years later.

[59][60] Du Puy sold the hotel and his other properties on the block in February 1925 to Samuel Brener for about $6.5 million.

[61] The new owner hired Charles N. Whinston & Bros. the same year to add storefronts to the ground floor,[20][62] which cost $100,000.

[74] After World War II, the Marseilles housed Holocaust survivors, as did several other hotels in Upper Manhattan.

[38][76] The United Service for New Americans leased about 150 rooms to accommodate displaced immigrants,[77][78] occupying about two-thirds of the Marseilles' available space.

[38][80] The organization also hosted English classes and cultural orientations at the hotel, in addition to entertainment and music performances arranged by refugees.

[81] During the Marseilles' time as a Jewish refugee center, the hotel hosted events such as Passover Seders[82] and birthday parties for U.S. president Harry S.

[84] Herbert Oberman and several partners bought the operating lease in July 1950 for 21 years, paying $945,000[77][78] and taking over a $25,000 mortgage.

[77] The United Service of New Americans surrendered its lease, and the new operators planned to add kitchenettes to the apartments.

[86][87] After the hotel was renovated, Oberman bought the building in May 1951[86][87] and transferred the operating lease to an unnamed syndicate represented by the lawyer Abe Silver.

[88][89] Jack Glatstein and Bernie Edelson leased the building itself in October 1952 for 19 years, paying a total of $1.8 million.

[93] By the late 1950s, neighborhood residents frequently complained that the Marseilles' tenants were dumping trash on the street, causing rat infestations.

[97] By the following decade, one source described the Marseilles as "one of the worst single room occupancy sore spots of the West Side".

[99][100] Emily Kwoh bought the building in 1972, relocated all the tenants there, and began renovating it into housing for elderly Asians.

[22] Starting in 1978, the 102nd–103rd Streets Block Association petitioned local residents to convert the building into affordable housing for elderly people.

At the time, the proposal required $20,000 in seed money until the federal government of the United States could provide further funds for the conversion; the block association raised $2,000 of that amount through small donations.