[1] In 2009, Brisbane City Council proposed an extensive commercial development of the site that included hotel, sport and entertainment facilities in new or refurbished old buildings.

The Howard Smith Wharves were constructed over 3 years from 1939 by the Queensland Government to provide relief work during the depression era.

Like other such schemes, the Brisbane Central Wharves not only provided employment, but established important infrastructure for Queensland's future development.

[1] The construction of wharves beyond Circular Quay (the stretch of riverbank between the Customs House and the Story Bridge)[6] was part of the gradual move downstream of port facilities at Brisbane, in a process which began in the 1840s.

In the late 1840s, 1850s and 1860s, a number of shipping companies and private investors constructed wharves and warehouses between Petrie Bight and Alice Street, near the botanic gardens.

To encourage private business activity, the colonial government and Brisbane Municipal Council also built wharves along Petrie Bight in the 1870s and leased them to shipping companies.

The business was established in Melbourne in 1854 by Captain William Howard Smith, and in the second half of the 19th century developed as one of the dominant companies in the Australian coastal shipping trade.

In the 1890s, the firm entered into a strong rivalry with other coastal shipping companies for the lucrative intra- and inter-colonial passenger trade.

[1] The resumption and rebuilding of the Brisbane Central Wharves was an adjunct to the construction of the Story Bridge between Kangaroo Point and Fortitude Valley.

The total work, described in the 1935 Annual Report of the Bureau of Industry (the government body in charge of the project), was estimated to cost in excess of £400,000.

[1] For the wharves, a reinforced concrete base was laid on the rock at the river's edge, with timber piles rammed into the riverbed.

[1] In 1941-42, the Brisbane City Council constructed five air-raid shelters near the Howard Smith Wharves below the cliff face, for the Bureau of Industry.

The threat of invasion by Japan appeared very real at the time, there was a substantial workforce employed at the wharves, and the site was located adjacent to the Story Bridge, a prime target in wartime.

After this lease expired the company made the inevitable move in the early 1960s to better facilities downstream at the mouth of the Brisbane River.

[1] On 18 August 2009, Brisbane City Council received the decision notice and approval package for the development application for Howard Smith Wharves.

[10] In June 2009 the Brisbane City Council has amended its redevelopment plans for Howard Smith Wharves in response to the community comments received during the consultation phase.

As a result, Council has made changes to the development plans that include alteration in buildings shapes and size and the addition of a new 10-metre (33 ft) boardwalk and possible CityCat terminal.

[13] The Howard Smith Wharves site is located on the northern bank of the Brisbane River at Petrie Bight, between the Town and Shafston Reaches.

The southern elevation has a cantilevered verandah to the first floor, with tiled awning, timber posts, batten balustrade and handrail, and corner lamps supported by curved metal brackets.

The northern entrance has paired timber framed glass doors with wide sidelights, and louvred lavatory windows are located at the eastern end of the first floor.

The first floor has a large office area opening onto the verandah overlooking the river to the south, with a central corridor accessing a lunch room, kitchen and lavatories on the northern side at the rear.

A section of the wharf in front of the office building is recessed, with stairs down to a lower deck for smaller craft to berth.

The cliff faces consist of overgrown sections in contrast to areas of exposed rock, and act as the support for the northern end of the Story Bridge.

The Howard Smith Wharves, constructed in the 1930s, are important in illustrating the evolution and development of Queensland history, providing rare surviving evidence of the port of Brisbane in the central city.

The Howard Smith Wharves are also important in demonstrating the range of employment-generating and infrastructure-building projects undertaken by the Forgan-Smith government during the 1930s Depression.

As the last surviving wharfage in the central city the Howard Smith Wharves provide rare evidence of the pre-1940 port of Brisbane.

As Howard Smith Wharves it was one of the largest single wharf leases in central Brisbane, and the extent of the site remains intact to illustrate this.

The surviving sections of wharves, constructed of large timber members, have a well-used and weathered aesthetic quality suggestive of former heavy usage.

[1] The cliff faces, consisting of overgrown sections in contrast to areas of exposed rock, provide a dramatic visual backdrop to the low scale waterfront structures as well as acting as the support for the northern end of the Story Bridge.

The site is significant also for its close association for over 6 decades with the work of the Howard Smith Co. Ltd, one of Australia's principal 19th and early 20th century coastal shipping companies.