[4] At the time of the announcement, the company had already completed the purchase of the land[3] at a cost of about $400,000 ($12,300,000 in 2023 dollars), and its architect, the noted Cleveland firm of Walker & Weeks,[5][6][7][8] had finished preliminary designs for the building.

[3] At some point in 1913 or 1914, Christian, Schwarzenberg & Gaede, a local structural engineering firm, was hired to assist with the plans.

[11][6][7] By June 1914, work on the architectural plans had advanced to the point where W. Bingham Co. was ready to place an order for up to 2,500 short tons (2,300 t) of structural steel and rebar.

[13] At the end of July, W. Bingham Co. awarded the contract for the general contractor's job to the Cleveland construction firm Crowell-Lundoff-Little.

At a total estimated cost of land and construction at $1 million ($30,100,000 in 2023 dollars), it was reportedly the largest warehouse in the United States.

[21] A steam shovel was used to remove the 70,000 cubic yards (54,000 m3) of earth, and steel sheet pilings were rammed into the soil to prevent cave-ins along the sides.

[18][19] These pilings were left in place to support the combined slab and pier foundation and freestanding retaining wall.

[21] Both the Big Four and the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the "Nickel Plate") ran a joint spur onto the site,[a] then hauled the earth several miles to Kingsbury Run (where it was used as landfill).

[25][b] The William Edwards Co. building on the southwest side of the new warehouse left insufficient space for regular footings and a buttressed retaining wall to be used.

Enormous coal and ash bins and long steel rails for the moving of heavy items were designed to hang from ceiling beams in these areas.

[6] A railroad spur ran under the building's ell (along the line of the old Mandrake Avenue), and there were 24 truck loading docks on the structure's northwest side.

[31] The octagonal, steel core-and-concrete columns in this area were 59 feet (18 m) tall, extending from the foundation up to the second floor.

[21] Due to complications created by the William Edwards building next to it, there were fewer exterior and interior columns in the structure's southwest corner.

[6] Walker & Weeks had used uniformly-colored paving brick on the Renkert Building, which it had designed shortly before beginning work on the W. Bingham Co. warehouse.

Architect Harry Weeks recommended paving brick for the Bingham building because it was strong, long-wearing, and inexpensive.

[36] "Seconds" (bricks which were not uniform in color due to chemical differences, miscasting, or after spending too much time curing in the kiln) were recommended by Weeks because they created an aesthetically pleasing "tapestry effect which might be assumed to have resulted from careful artistic design, rather than accident and economy.

Five[32] elevators were grouped in the center of the structure,[3] and a pneumatic tube network installed in the shafts as a space-saving measure.

It is also, according to the Ohio Historic Places Dictionary, an early example of "vertical rectangular construction of a building in a manner clearly appropriate to its function.

"[9] The structure is widely celebrated for the inspired use of paving brick seconds, which adds color and texture to the building.

As the century neared its close, only chemical, instrument and medical equipment, and plastics manufacturing remained as major employers.

A few small city and county agencies and offices had leased space on the structure's ground floor, while the remainder of the building was used for storage or was empty.

Bingham Burnside hired Marous Brothers Construction as the general contractor overseeing the project, which it hoped to begin on April 1, 2001.

[53] The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded Bingham Burnside a $41.8 million ($70,800,000 in 2023 dollars) conversion loan.

[56][57] In late 2004, Constantino's Market opened in 9,600 square feet (890 m2) of space on the ground floor of the Burnham on W. 9th Street.

[59] The second Award for Excellence in Renovation (Other Buildings), given by the Northern Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties to Marous Brothers Construction in May 2005.

[60] Burnside Construction suffered severe economic losses during the Great Recession of 2008–2010, and in May 2007 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation).

[61] Resource Real Estate bought the loan for $25 million in March 2010, and successfully completed a foreclosure proceeding against Bingham Burnside.

[62] Resource Real Estate won court approval to sell The Bingham in July 2010 in order to satisfy the mortgage.