The building now provides 160,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over six floors with a floor plate of 27,000 sq ft. Before the site was cleared in 1888—9, it contained a number of smaller buildings including Corbett's Temperance Hotel, Joe Hillman's dining rooms, the Theatre Royal, Christ Church School associated with the nearby church and the 'London Hatters', a small hat shop, amongst many other small shops and Georgian terraces.

Joseph Corbett was a local activist who worked to improve the lives of the poor of Birmingham, he often provided the hotel as a venue for charities to hold meetings and events.

The E. & C. Robins valuation shows the 60 by 30 square yard Town Hall occupying the northern part of the plot defined by Hill, New and Pinfold Streets.

The total cost of purchasing the full site, minus potential resale values of material saved from demolition of existing buildings, was estimated to be £9,500.

[4] After a seven-year campaign by the Victorian Society, joined in 1976 by the Green Ban Action Committee, led by Pete Carter, the building was saved from demolition.

The adjacent parcels office which was connected by a link bridge over Hill Street was also demolished, and was replaced in 1985 by One Victoria Square, designed by Watkins Grey Woodgate International.

The Grade II listed building, with a new doorway cut into the central arch of its facade, forms the entrance lobby to the offices which are located in the modern extension which overlooks New Street station.

[8] The law firm DLA Piper is the largest tenant in the building occupying 54,000 square metres (580,000 sq ft) across two floors and signed a 10-year lease in 2012.