Forest Hill Chase: Food outlets leaving top level The Loft dining precinct in droves

It was meant to inject new life into an ageing shopping centre, but three years after its launch, this dining precinct in Melbourne’s east is littered with empty stores.

Shoppers have likened a dining and entertainment precinct in Melbourne’s east to a ghost town and called for an urgent revamp, just three years after it was unveiled.

The $18m precinct, located on level three at the shopping centre, has been decimated by ongoing closures since it opened in December 2018.

It launched with more than 10 restaurants including TGI Fridays, a crepe outlet, a sushi train, a burger joint, a bubble tea stall and a Chinese hotpot restaurant.

When Leader visited on Monday, only two restaurants were open — The Groove Train and Northern Dumpling, along with the longstanding Chase Hotel and its pokies.

ENA Greek Street Food is believed to be the latest restaurant to close, with its old seating area exposed and its kitchen boarded up.

Surrey Hills resident Colin Paulse said he only visited the precinct to use the Club Lime gym and the area “should have been left the way it was”.

“They’ve wasted a lot of money, I can’t see anything up here to attract people,” he said.

“These places really need turnover and foot traffic … they need to find a way to market this place, there’s no work functions and nothing going on.”

Mr Paulse said he shopped at the centre for many years and felt foot traffic was down across the cent by about 50 per cent.

Wantirna’s Flor Claveria called for more cafes and salad stores, and said she only used the area to go to the toilet.

“It is dead, there’s not much going on and something is missing here,” she said.

Groove Train manager Dean Lentini said despite the closures, his restaurant was performing well since Covid restrictions had eased.

“A lot more younger people have come in since we’ve opened back up,” he said.

Mr Lentini said the precinct’s restaurants would benefit from more promotion and a better diversification of offerings.

The Loft is also home to entertainment attractions including TimeZone, Zone Bowling, Birdies Mini Golf, Hoyts Cinemas and the Lollipops children’s play centre.

Forest Hill Chase management were contacted for comment.