Built by the developer Henry Claman in 1922, as president of the West Forty-eighth Street Realty Company.

"[4] In the early 1970s, the hotel became home to the mentally ill and troubled Vietnam War veterans, and New York City subsequently placed welfare recipients there.

After a period of deterioration, Covenant House acquired the building in 1984 as real estate investment.

The hotel quickly ran up more than 1,500 safety and building code violations, leading to its takeover by the city in January 1990.

[6] Common Ground, offering affordable housing for working professionals and the formerly homeless, some of whom live with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, or physical disabilities, acquired the building in 1991 as its flagship supportive housing residence.