Is Justin Hemmes’s vision for a Little Collins St car park right for Melbourne?

Amid Sydney residents' current fight against hospitality giant Merivale’s plans to build an entertainment precinct similar to what Merivale proposes for Melbourne, questions remain over the City of Melbourne’s sale of its now former Little Collins St car park. 

Papers lodged with the City of Sydney in November in 2024 outline Merivale’s plan to transform six buildings on King, Clarence and York streets into a hotel, underground nightclub, jazz club, restaurant and café, sports bar, health spa, gym, restaurant and lounge, an internal courtyard, and offices.

Merivale’s CEO Justin Hemmes now has a similar vision in mind for the eight-storey car park at 34-60 Little Collins St that his company recently purchased for $55 million. The initial Melbourne proposal includes many of the types of venues mooted for the Sydney development, but not an underground nightclub.

Currently, there are more than 20 submissions objecting to the Sydney proposal, with many residents and business owners arguing that the development is against public interest, will have an adverse impact on residents, and that Merivale has a track record of non-compliance.

CBD News spoke with several City of Melbourne councillors who wished to remain anonymous, but they questioned whether the sale and proposed development was what Melbourne needed and whether it truly reflected what the community wanted.

One councillor considered that what was occurring in Sydney was a good indication of how future development proposals for the Melbourne site would be received.

Cr Owen Guest, who publicly expressed his concerns at the time of the carpark sale, said that he is not in a position to predict whether the development will be of benefit or detriment to the city. 

However, he stands by his belief that the sale of the carpark was a “bad deal” due to the site being undervalued and the funds being used to fund capital works rather than offset the council’s $216 million debt. 

“I think the commercial property sector in Melbourne were laughing when they heard what we’ve done,” he said. 

Merivale’s development plans for the car park site in Little Collins St will include restaurants, cafés, bars, live music and entertainment venues, retail spaces, and boutique hotel accommodation.

Mr Hemmes  thinks that this is the company’s “boldest” and “most innovative” project to date.

“The revitalisation and repurposing of this under-invested yet wonderful site has the potential to be an incredible addition to the fabric of Melbourne, an iconic landmark destination precinct full of life and vitality,” he said.

Funds from the sale will be reinvested back into the council’s capital works program to deliver community infrastructure, with Lord Mayor Cr Nick Reece stating that the car park was “surplus” to council needs and that the sale was part of an “asset recycling program”.

However, the president of the CBD residents’ group Eastenders Dr Stan Capp is wary of the proposed development and said that it has failed to address some of the city’s issues, such as affordable housing.

“There are already several existing and planned developments that provide a raft of entertainment, restaurants and bars in this outstanding part of our CBD,” he told CBD News.

“There needs to be a careful assessment of any plans proposed for this car park site – a wonderful site that could do so many positive things to add value to this precinct,” he added.

“An overdevelopment of the site that unduly prejudices others is not an acceptable outcome. While I am trying to be optimistic, I am concerned that it may become an option between terrible and awful.”

However, what can be built on the site according to Cr Reece is restricted by unique “encumbrances”, including a 40-metre discretionary height control and a major electricity substation embedded in the building, which powers the eastern end of the city.

While Merivale’s Sydney development has received opposition from neighbouring residents, the company’s influence on the hospitality sector in the “Harbour City” has been welcomed by many in the business community.

Business Sydney executive director, Paul Nicolaou, believes that Mr Hemmes is a visionary whom Melbourne should welcome with open arms.

“Justin Hemmes has been good for Sydney. His establishments and his plans for the future are a positive addition to Sydney’s and Melbourne’s night-time economies,” he said.

“His success is hopefully a spur for other operators to open businesses that help drive Sydney’s and Melbourne’s reputation as 24-hour cities.”

Since 2021, Merivale has been increasing its presence in Melbourne by purchasing Tomasetti House in Flinders Lane, with the redevelopment of the site expected to be completed in 2026.

Merivale also owns Kantay House in Meyers Place, which it bought for around $15 million in 2023. •