Mayfair Mansions were the project of radio evangelist Lightfoot Solomon Michaux. Albert I. Cassell, one of Washington's first professionally trained African American architects, designed the three-story buildings in the Colonial Revival style. They are among the first federally subsidized housing projects for African Americans in the United States.[2] The complex was built on the former location of the Benning Race Track. The initial 571 units are now divided into two separate properties: Mayfair Mansions III composed of 160 units and another composed of the remaining 411 units. Mayfair Mansions III underwent a major renovation in 2011 and the other property was rehabilitated for $48 million in 2009.[3]