Granville Square was originally built by Marathon Realty to house the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The tower was one of the only completed parts of Project 200, a proposed mixed-use redevelopment in Vancouver's Gastown and Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods.

The project included offices, hotels, and residential towers to be built over the CPR train tracks and other historic structures.

The project was cancelled due to a lack of funding and grassroots opposition, leaving Granville Square as one of its only remnants.

[10] On top of the building sits the Vancouver Harbour Control Tower, which is responsible for guiding the floatplanes that take off and land on the Burrard Inlet.