The Metropolitan Building, designed by architects Thomas Hooper and C. Elwood Watkins, was constructed in 1903 for Joseph and Lewis Rostein, costing $14,000. Initially known as the Rostein Building, it was renamed the Metropolitan Building around 1904.

The Rostein brothers developed the building to lease commercial spaces. Early occupants included Windsor Grocery, the American Consulate, and Thomas Plimley, who operated a bicycle shop there before expanding his business to motorcycles and automobiles at other locations in Victoria.
From its inception, the Metropolitan Building served commercial purposes, featuring retail shops on the ground floor and office spaces above.

In 1946, the architectural firm Birley, Wade and Stockdill carried out renovations that altered the original facade facing Government Street and removed the building’s original cornice.