Foodie Chris Lucas snaps up two levels of Melbourne office tower for $13m

Restaurateur Chris Lucas is splashing out $13 million on two levels of office space in Golden Age’s new $200 million tower.

Lucas Restaurants – the group behind a slew of Melbourne’s top restaurants – will occupy 660 square metres on two levels close to the top of the 130 Collins Street building.

Early discussions about a restaurant in the lower-ground space have also started.

Construction is well underway on the 28-storey tower, which replaced the Uniting Church’s old brown-brick headquarters.

Jeff’s Xu’s Golden Age group paid $40.5 million for the site in 2019, after a joint venture hotel project with the late Jonathon Hallinan’s BPM Group failed to get off the ground.

About 70 per cent of the strata-titled offices in the 9800-square-metre building has sold off-the-plan to buyers paying record-breaking prices, ranging from $16,000-$21,000 a square metre, according to Cushman & Wakefield agent Oliver Hay, who struck the Lucas deal with Anthony Kirwan and George Davies.

Lucas says the “outstanding triple-A position” of the building and its design drew him to the tower.

“It’s also within proximity to some of our restaurants, namely Society, Grill Americano, Kisume, Yakimono, Lillian Brasserie and Chin Chin,” Lucas said.

It is also just a short walk up the hill to the group’s new restaurant, Batard, which is under construction in the old Job’s Warehouse shops at 19-23 Bourke Street.