In April 1898 Burns made an offer for the 109 feet frontage to Bridge Street opposite the existing building.

By the end of 1900 leases had been signed to Weber Lohmann and Co., the Bellambi Coal Co., J. R. Bexter Bruce, Captain R. M Phillips, William Honston, H. W. Peabody and Co. and the North Queensland Insurance Co.[2] All these companies had a considerable voice in the finishing work, adding their own requests for fittings.

The contents of the building were auctioned by Lawsons on Wednesday 25 March 1998, which included photographs, paintings, maps, shipping memorabilia and furniture.

The interiors are largely intact with very fine decorative painted metal ceilings, high-quality timber partitioning, elaborate cast-iron columns, cedar joinery and polished stone finishes to the foyer.

The building is one of the few identified extant works of the firm A. L. & G. McCredie, a major Australian architectural practice of the later nineteenth century.

The building makes a major contribution to and is a key element in the Macquarie Place / Bridge Street Conservation area.

[1][2] Burns Philp Building was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

The building is one of the few identified extant works of this major Australian architectural practice of the late nineteenth century.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[1] The Burns Philp Building, with its richly carved and modelled facade, makes a major contribution and is a key element in the Macquarie Place / Bridge Street Conservation area, one of the most important historic townscape precincts in the City of Sydney.

[1] The Burns Philp Building is a rare example of the Federation Romanesque style made popular by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson.

The building is well known for its association with the Burns Philp Company, a major Australian maritime commercial entity, who successfully traded for more than a century along the south east coast of Australia and the Pacific Islands.

The Burns Philp Building is of State significance as one of the first uses of composite construction of steel, timber masonry and cast iron.

[1] The Burns Philp (South Sea) Company Limited operated in the Pacific Islands and contributes to an understanding of Australia's early trade and economy.