Just prior to this in 1885, just to the west on the corner of Collins and King Streets, the huge Robbs Building had been built as speculative offices, in a broadly Renaissance Revival style, and in 1888 the even larger Federal Coffee Palace was built on the opposite King Street corner (also designed in part by William Pitt). The tall corner dome of the Coffee Palace was visible in the view along Collins Street from in front of the Olderfleet, creating one of the most striking streetscapes in the city.
