Vacant Melbourne patch of dirt at ‘intersection of sleaze’ up for sale for $65m
The 600 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, property is at the corner of King St, referred to as the ‘intersection of sleaze’ by the city’s then deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece.
A high-profile patch of dirt left empty for two years at the “intersection of sleaze” in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD has been listed for sale at $65m.
The former Lonsdale Court building at 600 Lonsdale St was demolished in 2022 to make way for a 40-storey office tower, but two years on construction has yet to commence.
The bulldozed lot at the corner of King St now sits opposite another empty block, the former Goldfingers strip club that has now been vacant for so long it is being converted into a public space under City of Melbourne bylaws.
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The 600 Lonsdale St property is owned by Chinese-Australian developer Andy Zhang’s firm V-Leader, which spent about $52m acquiring it in 2018 and 2019. He then won initial approval to develop a hotel on the site in 2020.
Plans were amended to a commercial office building and reapproved in 2022 and the firm’s website currently describes it as a $574m project that will add 24,400sq m of A-grade office space to the CBD in a building described as “solar responsive” and “a model of biophilic design”.
A render shows what is planned for 600 Lonsdale St.
Cushman & Wakefield are selling the site, with marketing indicating it includes approved permits for a total of 45,000sq m of developable floorspace.
The property is in a Capital City overlay, allowing for its development as an office tower or for it to be repositioned as a luxury residential, hotel or build-to-rent tower.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Leon Ma said V-Leader were selling as they “reposition their portfolio”, but had completed all the demolition works as well as an archaeological study of the site, meaning the next owner would be able to get started quickly on the rare opportunity.
“It will be mixed interest of both local and international buyers,” Mr Ma added.
“But it is one of the last corner parcels left in Melbourne.”
When developed, the tower is expected to stand 40-storeys tall.
Famously dubbed the “intersection of sleaze” by then deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece in 2021, the corner of King St and Lonsdale St was just in the early stages of a major overhaul. However the pandemic spurred a range of construction sector issues that have been compounded by changes to property taxation and a surge in interest rates.
Across the road, Hickory’s plans to build a 21-storey tower behind the Kilkenny hotel in land formerly occupied by Goldfingers strip club has also stalled.
In June this year, work commenced to turn that block into a public space under City of Melbourne bylaws used to fight what then Lord Mayor Sally Cap called “zombie sites”.
The Goldfingers site was the first to trigger the requirements within Melbourne CBD’s Hoddle Grid since before the pandemic.
However the area’s sordid reputation is improving, with the recent establishment of a nearby Little Korea and a growing array of dining options along the nightclub hotspot.
— with Alesha Capone
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