Built by the Australian Property Investment Co, (or API), the announcement of the construction noted that it was said to be taller than any private building in London at the time, and would stand amongst the tallest in New York City and Chicago.

[3] It was reputed to have been originally planned to have fifteen stories[4] (and an 1888 sketch shows an equally large building in the same style next door),[5] but it was built with 12 levels, the 12th one attic space and a caretakers flat.

John Beswicke, who had worked for one of the API directors previously, had also been invited to submit, and was retained as an associate in the project as he had studied tall buildings, and is thought to have provided technical advice.

[10] They were made possible by the introduction of an hydraulic power system of pressurised water that could operate the lifts to great heights 'in complete safety'.

[12] Another from 1945 is that on the day of official inspection, the lift shot up uncontrollably only to bounce back from springs at the top, prompting many of the party to use the stairs on the way down.

[13][14] The main legend is that it was the worlds tallest in 1890, for instance in the 1976 book Melbourne's Yesterdays, but there were a number of towers in New York City and Chicago in that year that exceeded it by at least one or two floors, plus architectural features.

the spire, turrets and gables of the top floors of the earlier APA Building were removed, leaving it with a truncated mansard roof.

[19] It was also listed by the then Historic Buildings Preservation Council (now Heritage Victoria), but the owners then successfully argued for a demolition permit, on the basis of the large cost of upgrading to meet modern fire regulations.