Philipsburgh Hall was constructed in 1904 as Yonkers' first office building, and was converted into studio housing in the 1930s. The five-story beaux-arts style building was once a civic gem, featuring an inspired portico, a grand 5,000 square foot ballroom, and an elegant basement restaurant partially illuminated during the day by an overhead glass sidewalk. However the building declined with the surrounding area during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The ballroom was turned into a bingo hall, the front façade marred by poor commercial retrofits, and, ultimately, a July 1997 fire closed the building.

In late 2001, after an $8 million historically sensitive renovation, the building reopened as a result of a successful economic development partnership between the Greyston Foundation, St. John’s Episcopal Church and the City of Yonkers. The Greyston Foundation is the project’s managing partner.

The building is an engine for economic development in southwest Yonkers in four important ways:

• The building has 28 units of affordable housing. Most of these units were filled by working artists that moved to Yonkers from Manhattan and Brooklyn. The rent-up represented the first significant immigration of new energy into Southwest Yonkers in decades.
• The grand ballroom is the home of the newly created Philipsburgh Performing Arts Center that has brought a comprehensive program of performances, exhibitions, and arts education opportunities for children and adults to the area.
• The ballroom is also being used as a catering hall, allowing businesses, individuals and the City Government to host significant events in a grand setting in Southwest Yonkers for the first time in many years.
• The buildings upgraded storefronts will be the home of new local businesses.

The project was financed through privately-placed tax-exempt bonds underwritten by Roosevelt and Cross, the sale of low-income and historic tax credits to the Enterprise Social Investment Corporation, and a federal HOME loan administered by the City of Yonkers.