Kisume restaurant tower in Flinders Lane sells for 25m

A Flinders Lane building occupied by one of Melbourne’s top restaurants, Chris Lucas’ Kisume, and owned by philanthropist Helen Sykes has reportedly sold for more than $25 million.

175 Flinders Lane.Credit:

The trophy eight-level tower at 175 Flinders Lane was on the market for around $20 million through Colliers International’s Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay and Leon Man and Killen Thomas’ John Camilleri, although none would comment on the final price.

Property sources, who declined to be named because of confidentiality, said the building set a new benchmark for the area at more than $15,000 per square metre.

Mr Wolman said a lack of quality stock in the market was creating pent-up demand and competition between buyers.

“Rising capital value rates and compressing yields are becoming a common trend, particularly at this price point. A supply starved market will continue to push pricing,” he said.

Kisume occupies the lower levels of the building, which Ms Sykes â€" the wife of former AFL commissioner and Carlton premiership-winning player Mike Fitzpatrick â€" purchased in 2014 for $9.8 million.

The tower is strata-subdivided on a floor-by-floor basis, making it easy to sell-down in the future if required.

While fewer city buildings are coming to the market, the result of COVID-19 disruption, those that do are fetching reasonable prices.

Swinburne University recently offloaded another Flinders Lane tower, the seven-storey Invicta House, after it faced a cash crunch from the loss of international students during the pandemic.

It intended to turn Invicta House at 226-232 Flinders Lane into a vertical campus, but sold it for $40 million to Swiss fund manager Fidinam.

Another well known building, Tomasetti House at 277-279 Flinders Lane, was recently picked-up by high-profile Sydney-based hospitality billionaire Justin Hemmes for $40 million.

Simon Johanson is a business journalist at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

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