The former Imperial Hotel is a notable example of a Victorian corner public house in the heart of colonial Auckland. Erected in 1883, it also incorporates two earlier structures dating from 1862 and 1873. It reflects varied aspects of Auckland's commercial and administrative development and has been used as a hotel, insurance rooms and offices for institutions such as the Auckland Harbour Board and Auckland Gas Board.

Located on the corner of Queen and Fort Streets, the former Imperial Hotel occupies reclaimed land on the site of Auckland's early foreshore. The Commercial Bay shoreline was utilised by Maori before colonial arrival, and was a major landing place for people and supplies after colonial Auckland was founded in 1840. In 1846, the land formed part of a Crown Grant to George Graham (1812-1901), a clerk of works in the Royal Engineers. An early building on the site consisted of the two-storey timber Metropolitan Hotel (later demolished), which was first licensed in 1858. This fronted Queen Street, Auckland's main commercial thoroughfare.

Surviving structures were subsequently erected to the east of the hostelry in Fort Street. Somerset House or Graham's Buildings, constructed in 1861-2, was the store of merchant J. Davis, and accommodated the offices of land commissioner H.H. Turton (1818-1887). Turton was an early Wesleyan missionary who was subsequently employed in the Native Office in Wellington. Adjoining Fort Lane, Webb's Buildings were erected in 1861 but were rebuilt in 1873 to the design of noted architect James Wrigley (1837?-1882). Prior to 1882, they housed the Auckland Harbour Board and the Auckland Gas Board, reflecting Fort Street's early importance as an administrative as well as commercial centre. From its inception in 1871, the Auckland Harbour Board oversaw the port's affairs and played a notable role in Auckland's economic development.

Hotel-keeper Thomas Anderson secured the lease of the Metropolitan Hotel in 1882. Brewers, Hancock provided a £1000 bond enabling construction of the hotel in brick, one of 16 public houses in Queen Street, conditional upon sale of their product. The new premises were erected in 1883 during a hotel construction boom that followed more stringent requirements introduced under the Liquor Licensing Act 1881. The three-storey building was designed in an Italianate architectural style by prolific Auckland architects Edward Mahoney and Son, and constructed for £4,268 by builder John Currie (1849-1921). It had two symmetrical facades, although three bays were added shortly after.

In 1885 the hotel lease was assigned to Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, a major Melbourne-based company which used part of the prominently located building as its Auckland office. Renamed the Imperial Hotel, by 1889 the hostelry was accessed from Fort Street and incorporated Graham's Buildings (1862). By 1912 the hotel had a street-level verandah; bedrooms, a private sitting room, office and dining room on the first floor; and bedrooms and a new kitchen on the upper level.

Lessee Hancock redeveloped the ground floor in 1917 with a bottle store, a large public bar and a tobacconist shop. In 1924 Hancock, by then part of New Zealand Breweries, purchased the property. A lounge and new toilets (including a women's facility) were provided on the first floor in 1929. After further changes, the hotel's bar facilities were extended in 1954 into the former Webb's Buildings adjoining which had been purchased in 1930.

The Imperial Hotel became the Lion Tavern in 1966, taking in two thirds of the ground floor of the former Webb's Buildings in which a glassed stairwell was created. The first and second floors of the extended holding were redeveloped as backpackers' accommodation in 1989, retaining licensed bars on the ground and first floors. After 76 years in brewery ownership, the former Imperial Hotel changed hands in 2000.

The former Imperial Hotel has aesthetic significance for its distinctive, decorative façade, prominently positioned on the corner of Auckland's Queen and Fort Streets. It has archaeological significance for its rare incorporation of an 1860s mercantile structure and potential deposits linked with early colonial reclamation processes and pre-existing foreshore activity. The place has architectural value for incorporating an 1880s corner hotel designed by the prominent Auckland architectural practice of Edward Mahoney and Sons, and an earlier structure that is one of few known commercial buildings designed by James Wrigley. The place has historical significance for reflecting the development of the Queen Street area as the city's main commercial centre, and for its connections with several important organisations. These include the Auckland Harbour Board, Auckland Gas Board, Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society and liquor interests Hancock, New Zealand Breweries and Lion Breweries. It also has close associations with the early Wesleyan missionary H.H. Turton. The place has social significance as a longstanding place of drinking and social interaction, having been used for this purpose for more than 125 years.