Initially, the CAB housed all administrative offices of the LDS Church, but as membership grew and leadership and staff expanded, the workers were scattered in office buildings throughout downtown Salt Lake City—some as far away as the Granite Mountain Vaults in Little Cottonwood Canyon and at Brigham Young University, 40 miles (64 km) to the south in Provo.

With construction of the COB to the north, the CAB was freed up for offices for general authorities,[4] and it continues to serve as the church's headquarters.

[12] The building has hosted visitors including George W. Bush and Michelle Obama.

[13][14][15] Constructed between 1914 and 1917, the building is built of quartz monzonite from the same quarry in Little Cottonwood Canyon as the stone used for the Utah State Capitol and the nearby Salt Lake Temple.

"[1][16] Twenty-four ionic columns form a colonnade around the structure, each weighing eight tons.