When originally opened in the 1930s the Brisbane City Hall was intended to house all of the council's office staff, as well as councillors, together with public meeting rooms.

However, as Brisbane rapidly grew, the council converted many of the smaller public meeting rooms and vestibules to office space.

The plaza was completely revamped in the early 1990s, the shops were relocated to street level and their former location being taken over by a new public library.

The building supports 26,000m2 of office space over twenty-two levels, with the ground floor used as both a lobby and a small retail area.

The tenants of Northbank Plaza are Telstra, RemServ, Interleasing (Australia), Brisbane City Council, Berril & Watson Lawyers, Regus Group of Companies, Brisbane Economic Development Agency, Bennett & Phillip Lawyers.