Fitzroys Market Report - Melbourne CBD Melbourne CBD Precincts

Bourke Street Mall

Swanston St - Elizabeth St

13.8%

Located in the heart of the CBD, the city’s key shopping strip is dominated by specialty retail and major department stores Myer and David Jones. It is set for a mini-revamp with David Jones spending $50 million to optimise its store on the south side of the Mall and introduce a Tempus Two bar, sunglasses destination and concessions for luxury brands, while Newmark Capital goes about repositioning former David Jones menswear store across the Mall. That will introduce a Mecca flagship and a Rodd and Gunn concept store, and add to the immediate vicinity 900 staff from marketing giant Clemenger Group’s Melbourne-based companies across 7,500sqm of new office space.

Street Mall

Bourke Street

Swanston St - Spring St 14.3%

Includes: Meyers Pl, Crossley St, Southern Cross Ln, Russell Pl

The eastern stretch of Bourke Street has a similar vacancy rate to Bourke Street Mall, and is differentiated by having a much heavier presence of hospitality tenants, at nearly 43%. These include restaurant mainstays Pellegrini’s and The Spaghetti Tree, as well as bars and venues such as The Carlton Club, Imperial Hotel and Madame Brussells. Activity is supported by the trendy bars dotted through popular branching laneways such as Meyers Place, Crossley Street and Liverpool Street.

Bourke Street

Chinatown

Lonsdale St - Spring St - Bourke St - Swanston St

13.7%

Established during the 1850s gold rush, Chinatown is home to the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the western world, and retains a number of historic buildings.

Part of the CBD’s retail core, vacancies were at 13.7% in 2022. Food and beverage makes up 43% of the precinct, and the queues out the door have returned for the famed dumpling houses and eateries that attract visitors from across Melbourne. Laneway bars and arcades add to the nightlife buzz, while the reopening of China’s international borders presents plenty of upside for trade. Spaces between 80 to 150sqm represent a “sweet spot” for tenants looking to get into the precinct.