[1] The construction of the Mauá Wharf was the outcome of a joint effort between the government and society in Rio Grande do Sul, which were striving to modernize Porto Alegre and boost the economy at the beginning of the 20th century.

DEPREC's headquarters is a six-storey building with an Eclectic and Art Deco styles whose structure is made of load-bearing masonry with concrete beams and floors, and the walls are covered in plaster.

In 1996, the protection was reinforced by the municipal conservation of the rest of the complex, which included the cargo handling cranes along the wharf and the granite paving.

In 2010, the protected area was granted to a private group to be improved, but the contract was terminated by the government after ten years without any progress being made.

In 2021, the government of Rio Grande do Sul presented a new project to transform the old warehouses into a leisure, gastronomy and tourism area at a cost of R$1.3 billion, but it was heavily criticized by a large group of experts, students and professors from UFRGS, members of the Legislative Assembly and cultural activists, who defend a revitalization program focused on preserving its public and cultural function, and opposed to real estate and commercial speculation, elitism, gentrification and urban fragmentation.