Located along a stretch of Baum Boulevard nicknamed "Automobile Row" due to its high concentration of auto-related businesses, the plant was built in 1915 by Ford Motor Company to assemble Ford Model T cars using the company's pioneering mass production processes.

It was designed by Ford's corporate architect John H. Graham, Sr. and constructed from reinforced concrete.

Due to the steeply sloping site, the building has only five stories above grade along the street elevations.

The building then went through a variety of light industrial uses before being purchased by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in 2006.

It was subsequently purchased by the University of Pittsburgh in 2018,[3] the same year the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places.