The Brookman Building(s),[a] designed by Alfred Wells and built in 1897,[1][2] once stood on the site of the present Grenfell Centre.

This redevelopment earned it the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Commercial Architecture Award of Commendation.

Its nickname, "black stump",[6] in reference to the building's appearance, is also a colloquial Australian phrase.

In October 2021 the Grenfell Centre was acquired by Centuria and MA Financial JV, at a purchase price of A$166.6m.

[9][10] In February 2023, re-cladding of the building was complete, after works had been undertaken to replace the aluminium composite cladding (which had been implicated in the rapid spread of the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in London, as well as other fires around the world[11][12]) with solid 3 mm (0.12 in) aluminium cladding.