It was built by the Waterman Steamship Corporation in 1947, and rises 230 feet (70 m) and 16 stories.

[5] At the time of construction, the building was referred to as the turning point when the city entered the modern age, and cost $5 million (equivalent to $68,226,528 in 2023).

The Roberts Building sold to Commercial Guaranty Banking Company in 1973.

[6] The structure housed the Waterman Globe, a 12-foot (4 m) diameter sphere created by Rand McNally that depicts the world with the political boundaries of the 1940s.

It was later restored and moved to the University of South Alabama's Mitchell Center in 1999.