Towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th was installed in the area, an asiento of slaves belonging to the Compagnie de Guinée and South Sea Company, that operated until 1739.

[8] Retiro is one of the largest hubs of transportation services in Argentina, and is home to many high-end stores and residential areas popular among both local wealthy gentry and expatriate executives.

[10] The Retiro section of Calle Florida was the site of Harrods Buenos Aires, originally the London department store's only overseas affiliate, from 1914 to 1998; the abandoned landmark continued to host art shows and Tango festivals, and permits were obtained in 2009 to reopen the retailer.

When entire blocks of housing were razed to make way for an extension of the Avenida 9 de Julio in the late 1970s, the embassy was spared due to its landmark status, and remains the lone building in the midst of intense traffic.

Also nearby are the Basílica Santísimo Sacramento, the upscale Patio Bullrich shopping arcade, the Estrugamou Building, the Fernández Blanco Museum, and the Peace Plaza - the site of the former Israeli Embassy, which was bombed on March 17, 1992, with a toll of 29 dead and 242 wounded, marking the first known South American incident of Middle East-related terrorism.

Funded by an Irish Argentine woman, the Kavanagh stands on the northern end of pedestrian Calle Florida,[14] and its construction followed the plaza's extensive redesign, which resulted in the demolition of a number of derelict buildings from the colonial era, though also of the original National Museum of Fine Arts, an ornate pavilion used for the 1889 Paris Exposition.