The sprawling Surry Hills Village development on Cleveland Street has lost a prized signing, with restaurant group Fink jettisoning its planned restaurant at the site.

Fink – whose stable of blue-chip venues includes Quay, Firedoor, Bennelong and Gildas – announced last year it would open a 160-seat restaurant under a giant glass-roofed structure at the Toga Group development.

The meticulously designed site, on the corner of Cleveland and Baptist streets, will eventually include a hotel with rooftop bar, shopping and the Wunderlich Lane eating precinct. Fink, notoriously fastidious and patient in rolling out new venues, had been a key signing.

Fink CEO Jeremy Courmadias told Good Food “the stars did not align” on the project. “While unfortunate our concept won’t be moving ahead, it was a really collaborative, educational process with the Toga team. We look forward to visiting the development once it’s open.”

Representatives from the leasing team could not be reached for comment before publication, but the Surry Hills Village website still touts the Fink venue, which “will sit at the centre of this dining destination”.

Fink refused to detail specific reasons for pulling out of the project, but restaurant operators across the city are increasingly cautious about the cocktail of interest rate hikes, consumer spending caution, higher building costs, and potential restaurant over-supply.