November 12, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
By Caroline Preston
The Prince George Hotel was a dilapidated eyesore when a New York housing charity took it over in the mid-1990s. Now the refurbished hotel provides low-cost homes to more than 400 poor people with AIDS. It’s also become an important source of income for its owner.
The hotel’s 4,800-square-foot ballroom, with its herringbone oak floor, marble mantelpiece, and richly ornamented ceiling, plays host to more than 125 events each year.
Common Ground, the housing group that owns the building, charges companies $8,000 and nonprofit groups $5,500 to rent the room for special occasions. The group makes about a $300,000 profit each year from the ballroom. It has an annual budget of about $34-million.
Khalilah Abdul-Baqi, director of special events, says the housing charity will sometimes offer deeper discounts for smaller charities. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Robin Hood Foundation, and Echoing Green are among the nonprofit groups that have held events there.
Refurbishing the ballroom cost $1.8-million, half of which came from foundations and corporations. Common Ground turned the repair work into a project to further its antipoverty mission — employing homeless and low-income New Yorkers to help with the restoration.
