[2] Following the Chicago school of architecture style, the building features a granite base and terracotta exterior.

[2] Beginning sometime around the 1960s, the building gradually fell into disrepair coinciding with the decline of East Liberty.

A classical ornament on the roof was replaced with substandard material, allowing water to enter the basement.

With assistance from the state of Pennsylvania and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, a new renovation effort was launched in 2012 to restore the exterior and reconstruct the interior of the Highland Building, attach it to the adjacent three-story Wallace Building and convert the entire complex into one hundred and twenty-seven apartments.

Recently, the last of the retail space in the Wallace Building was filled by a Mexican Restaurant.