Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen, the 12-story building was completed in 1902 as an apartment hotel.

Canadian firm Harrington Housing acquired the Mansfield Hotel in 2021 and renovated the rooms into co-living spaces.

[9] Prior to the development of the Mansfield Hotel, the neighborhood contained a slaughterhouse, stables for stagecoach horses, and a train yard for the elevated Sixth Avenue Line.

The main entrance is through a molded round arch at the center of the facade, which is topped by a cartouche with garlands on either side.

The rest of the first story contains windows, above which a crown molding runs horizontally across the facade at the same level as the second-story balcony.

The dormers are surrounded by eared frames and topped by a large segmental arch, which in turn is decorated with rope moldings and cartouches.

[3] The hotel's lobby originally contained a coffered ceiling,[16][15] which was divided into three rectangular panels with plaster light fixtures.

[15][18] Following a renovation in the 1990s, the lobby was restored largely to its original design,[16] and a portrait by Tamara de Lempicka was installed.

[19] The lobby contains paneled walls and columns topped by sculpted capitals,[20] as well as a black reception desk with copper reliefs.

On the lobby's right (west) side was a glass-and-metal entrance to the hotel's library, decorated with wooden bookshelves, early-20th-century Philippine furniture, and vintage images.

[21][26] Following the 1990s renovation, each of the rooms contained period furnishings, such as lighting sconces made of etched glass; floors of ebonized wood; granite bathrooms; and iron-and-wire-mesh beds.

[21] The ninth and tenth stories were used as storage rooms by the late 20th century, although they were converted to duplex lofts after the 1990s renovation.

[21] In 2021, the hotel was converted to a co-living space with communal kitchens; karaoke lounges, within former offices; and patios, inside some of the air shafts.

Apartment hotels had less stringent regulations on sunlight, ventilation, and emergency stairs but had to contain communal spaces like dining rooms.

That June, the firm submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings for a 12-story brick-and-stone hotel on a 50-by-88-foot (15 by 27 m) site, to cost $200,000 (equivalent to $7,043,077 in 2023).

[45] The nightclub was decorated with green furnishings and included an entertainment space that contained a semicircular bar, as well as an attached dining room.

[33] The lobby was further renovated in the 1960s with the installation of sheetrock walls and a dropped ceiling, although the upper stories largely remained intact.

[53] Goldberg's company, Gotham Hospitality Group, hired architecture firm Pasanella Klein Stolzman Berg to design a renovation of the Mansfield.

[20] Goldberg also replaced the hotel's plumbing and wiring systems, although they largely retained the guestrooms' original design, restoring period decorations in each of the rooms.

[25][51] Upon its reopening, the Mansfield started hosting recitals in the former tavern space,[25][51] and it also offered complimentary breakfasts and desserts.

[57][58] Brad Reiss and John Yoon of Ark Investment Partners acquired the hotel building in 2004, leasing the land from a partnership.

[60] The investor Trevor Atwood expressed interest in acquiring the building for $65 million in partnership with Wall Street Capital Partners.

[59] Following a decline in tourism in New York City caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, Canadian firm Harrington Housing acquired the Mansfield Hotel and renovated the rooms into co-living spaces, where guests could stay for as little as three days.

"[70] The Montreal Gazette wrote in 1990 that the hotel had a "small, cheerful lobby and smallish, clean and well-furnished rooms".