The building, designed by the trio of Slobodan Jovičić, Josip Hitil and Ivan Žuljević, was built between 1957 and 1958 and was officially inaugurated on 22 August 1959, when Većeslav Holjevac was mayor of Zagreb.

The observation deck was open to the public for decades, but it was fenced by security railings in 1967 after a man committed suicide by jumping off it and landing on a woman passing by, who was also killed.

Ferimport later experienced a dramatic downturn in the 1990s after it was privatized in the years following Croatia's independence and the fall of communism, and the building visibly deteriorated in this period.

[1][3] Frankopan had plans for a large scale reconstruction of the building, but the initial concept (which entailed a complete redesign of the façade and the addition of panoramic elevators, spiral staircases and a few extra floors), was rejected by the city's institute for the protection of cultural heritage.

[5] The project was then delayed for four years until a revised renovation plan was finally approved by city authorities in December 2005.