Hospitality moguls Chris Lucas and Justin Hemmes set to spend millions in Melbourne’s CBD

Hospitality kingpins Chris Lucas and Justin Hemmes are spending millions on new Melbourne restaurant precincts designed to revitalise the city.

Two hospitality kingpins are set to spend millions on new dining precincts in Melbourne’s CBD.

Melbourne restaurant king Chris Lucas is set to open a new $10 million restaurant redevelopment in the CBD.

The former Society restaurant in Bourke Street will be transformed into a three storey French themed entertainment and dining complex called Batard.

The complex is set to employ up to 500 people and comes as Sydney billionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes is set to spend $50m on a seven storey entertainment building in Flinders Lane.

It can also be revealed Mr Hemmes’s company, Merivale, has bought a new site for $15m near the top of Bourke St.

The developments signal a major vote of confidence in the CBD as the two entrepreneurs invest heavily in the city.

Mr Lucas, who owns top establishments such as Chin Chin and Grill Americano in Flinders Lane, and Society venue in Collins St, said launching Batard will fulfil a long-held dream.

“It’s such a beautiful building that once housed the original Society,” he said.

Renders of Chris Lucas’ new development Batard in Bourke Street.

“I’ve managed to also buy two other sites that will form part of the new Batard and recreate some of that beautiful history.”

“Batard will be such a fun place with lots of exciting components, including a rooftop bar and lavish dining elements that capture that sexy chic French energy, but in a very Melbourne way.”

On Tuesday, Melbourne City councillors will consider an amended planning permit for the development to allow certain works subject to heritage controls.

The original Society was opened on the site in the 1930s by Italian migrants Giuseppe and Antonio Codognotto.

It was a Melbourne institution for nearly a century.

The Lucas group has created more than 1000 hospitality jobs with new restaurants over the past 18 months.

“I look forward to Batard employing over 500 young hospitality professionals itself, and for it to be a huge endorsement of Melbourne’s well-earned status as the culinary capital of Australia,” Mr Lucas said.

“It will be humbling and so exciting to join esteemed dining institutions like Florentino, the European, Becco and Pellegrini’s, and to call them neighbours.”

“While it has seen some hard times, I’m sure better days are ahead for the Bourke Hill area, which remains one of Melbourne’s great culinary precincts.”

Chris Lucas said the Batard complex is expected to employ up to 500 people. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

TV personality and former Collingwood Magpies president Eddie McGuire said Batard would help “fire up” a part of the city that had fallen away for several years.

“For Chris Lucas to double down again and to breathe life into what is a forgotten part of the city, with the old Society restaurant site, is amazing,” he said.

Mr McGuire said Batard would become part of an outstanding dining and entertainment precinct stretching from Flinders La to Bourke St and the theatre district.

“There’s nothing better than walking into a restaurant in your own home town that is completely world-class in look, style, food and ambience,” he said.

Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said that two years after Melbourne was the most locked down city in the world, new data showed a huge jump in building permits for hospitality and retail across town.

“Nowhere is this more so than in the Bourke Hill precinct which is going through a renaissance and will once again be one of the city’s great hospitality precincts,” he said.

“At one end of the market you’ve got titans like Chris Lucas and Justin Hemmes making massive investments in new venues.”

“At the other end, you’ve got a new wave of Asian restaurants which are so popular they have long queues of people waiting down the street – Hot Pot, Korean BBQ, and Ramen is so hot right now.

“Good luck to them all – at the end of the day all Melburnians will benefit from the extraordinary array of dining and hospitality options that are available.”

Melbourne’s high-end dining scene set for revamp

Melbourne’s high-end dining scene is set for a renaissance with local and interstate operators set to make a splash.

From Chris Lucas’s French-themed Batard at the top of Bourke St to new offerings at Crown, Melburnians can expect a feast of new venues amid a highly competitive culinary atmosphere.

Sydney-based pub baron Justin Hemmes has big plans for Melbourne after successfully opening Totti’s in the Lorne Hotel.

Industry sources say Hemmes’s Merivale Group will end up spending up to $50m on Tomasetti House – a seven-level brick and bluestone building it bought in Flinders La, near Degraves St.

Merivale owner Justin Hemmes is expected to spend up to $50m on Tomasetti House. Picture: Richard Dobson

It’s understood that the group has also recently bought a two-storey factory at 12-18 Meyers Place, near the top of Bourke St, for at least $15m.

The building currently hosts steakhouse San Telmo and Pizza Pizza, but there is enormous potential to redevelop the 603 sqm site that’s in a prime location.

Mr Hemmes said he was blown away by the support from Victorians after opening Totti’s Lorne.

“Local executive chef Matt Germanchis has played an invaluable role bringing knowledge of the best regional produce and suppliers to work with,” he said.

“Tomasetti House is equally as important, and we’re looking forward to building on the remarkable hospitality that Melbourne has to offer.”

Totti’s at The Lorne Hotel. Picture: Supplied

“It will be a phased approach and we hope to open the first bar and restaurant mid-next year.”

Also from Sydney is the NOMAD Group, owned by Al and Rebecca Yazbek, who opened their NOMAD Melbourne restaurant in the Adelphi Hotel in Flinders La in 2021.

The Yazbeks also have French-inspired eatery Reine & La Rue, located in Melbourne’s original stock exchange building on the corner of Queen and Collins streets.

Crown Melbourne is also set to attract top interstate restaurants under a massive makeover promised by the casino’s new owner, global equity group Blackstone.

It’s been rumoured that Crown Sydney eateries a’Mare and Woodcut could be replicated in Melbourne.

Chris Lucas, who expects to open Batard in mid-2024, said there was something special about Melbourne’s food culture, and it was one of the world’s great culinary cities.

“It’s so pleasing to hear that some of our nation’s most respected interstate operators feel the same — groups like Nomad and Merivale opening in Melbourne is a huge endorsement of our city, and is great for those that dine in it,” he said.