This building was erected in 1932 as premises for the Commercial Bank of Australia (CBA) in the aftermath of the Hawke's Bay earthquake. The CBA was founded in Melbourne in 1866 with a nominal capital of £500,000. The prospectus stated that it was intended to provide credit for small traders, farmers, and so forth. After a period of slow growth in Melbourne and its suburbs, greater expansion followed the acquisition of the Australian and European Bank in 1879. Paid-up capital reached £1,000,000 in 1887. The CBA was one of fifteen banks forced to close for a time in April 1893 when an economic depression precipitated a massive rush on funds. A period of reconstruction and redevelopment ensued, lasting until 1920. In 1918, the CBA bought the National Bank of Tasmania and a further period of expansion followed. The CBA commenced operations in New Zealand in 1912, in premises in Featherston Street, Wellington, and growth was swift. Progress in the bank's operations in New Zealand may be gauged by five yearly deposit figures of £46,000 in 1913, £449,000 in 1918, £1,000,000 in 1923, £1,630,000 in 1928, and £1,660,000 by 1933. The first branch of the CBA opened in Hastings in 1925, in a building on Heretaunga Street West, with just two staff. This building was destroyed in the Hawkes Bay Earthquake in 1931 and operations had to move to a temporary, corrugated iron clad building in the backyard of the Bank of New South Wales. This temporary building, known as the Community Banks Building, was used by all banks then operating in the town (with the exception of the Bank of New South Wales), having lost their buildings in the earthquake. In 1933 a new building was completed on the corner of Queen and Russell Streets for the use of the CBA. Designed by the local architectural firm of Davies, Garnett & Phillips, the building occupied land acquired by Frank Candy, a company manager of Hastings, who sold the property almost immediately (and presumably while construction was still taking place), to Bank Chambers Limited in December 1932. The company was based in Hastings and, as the building was a purpose-built bank, it would appear to have had a direct association with the CBA. During the company's tenure the building underwent unspecified alterations, in 1939. The bank leased the premises until 1959, when it bought the property. It remained the Hastings branch of the CBA until 1981, when the property was sold to Queen's Chambers Limited. The CBA then moved to a new building, merging the following year with the Bank of New South Wales to form Westpac. In 1984 the building was bought by Williams and Kettle Limited, the long-standing Hawke's Bay stock and station agents established by Fred Williams in 1880. The building was presumably acquired as an investment property. In 1985 major changes were made to the interior ground floor layout, with the removal of existing partitions (some original) and the building of new; the staircase and strongroom on the Queen Street East side of the building however, remained untouched. This work was designed by Hastings architects Hoogerbrug, Magdalinos and Williams, and the drawings are dated December 1984. At that stage it was known as the 'real estate building'. The building has since been on-sold.

The former CBA Bank is a two-storey, reinforced concrete building, standing prominently on the north side corner of Russell Street and Queen Street East. All major structural elements of the building - foundations, exterior and some interior walls, and the ground and first floors - are in-situ concrete, while some interior partitions and the roof framing are in timber. The building is stripped Classical in style, devoid of decoration but for fluted panels between the ground and first floor windows; these are recessed from the grid of columns, which rise through both storeys. The columns stand on a solid plinth, and support a plain parapet. These elements define the simple but bold geometric form of the building. There are three bays to each elevation, of varying widths and with large windows, with a central bay on the corner; this has the main entrance at ground level and a window with curved frame and glass above. There is another entrance at the end of the Queen Street East facade, with terrazzo finishes to the porch; inside this entrance there is a terrazzo staircase with the original wrought iron balustrade giving access to the first floor. The original ground floor plan shows three entrances (one on Russell Street, the main one on the corner, and the third on Queen Street East, making full use of the corner site); a public space, offices and a strong room, while the first floor had a surgery, waiting room and offices. The building occupies a prominent corner site, and anchors the ends of two rows of buildings, one forming the east side of Russell Street and the other the north side of Queen Street East.