It is understood to have been designed by Albert Kahn and that it was originally a Post Office before being used as the Public Schools' surplus equipment depository.

[2] The building is home to the Detroit headquarters of New Lab, a multi-disciplinary technology company.

The fire and efforts to extinguish it heavily damaged much of the supplies inside, which included science and sports equipment, scissors, crayons, and books, many still unused and in their original wrapping.

The reason why the building's contents were not salvaged by Detroit Public Schools is unknown.

The contents of the warehouse were removed over the summer of 2012 in preparation for possible conversion into a parking garage.