This building was built as the Wharf Office of the Customs Department in 1938 at a cost of £4,000. It was designed by Dunedin architects Owen MacFie and Cyril Gardner Dunning, and built by Love Construction. The building abutted the existing wharf sheds that ran along Cross Wharf, and was designed to fit the dimensions of those existing sheds. Plans show the main entrance of the Wharf Office from Cross Wharf, opening into a central public space flanked by small partitioned offices. There were offices for the Assistant Sub-Collector and the Boarding Inspector, as well as rooms for testing and measuring, squaring up, and a separate room for bicycles. The Wharf Office provided facilities for examining officers to complete their work, checking passenger baggage, goods and the like.
In 1971 the Customs Department centralised their operations, consolidating their premises in their city offices. The Otago Harbour Board took over the offices, using them for Board meetings, with much of the interior altered at this time to suit the new function.
When the Otago Harbour Board completed their new glass offices at the other end of Cross Wharf in 1982, the building was no longer required for board meetings. There was discussion about its future, including suggestion that it would be a good site for a restaurant.
In the early 1980s the building was used as offices for engineers Cossens and Black Ltd. After that it was used as offices for Monarch Cruises.
In 2006 the building was converted to a restaurant by its owners the Otago Regional Council and the premises leased. An addition was made to the south elevation.