WALK THE STRIP
MELBOURNE RETAIL
STRIP REPORT 2025
WE KNOW RETAIL. WE KNOW MELBOURNE.
SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL SHOPPING STRIP
Melbourne’s strips show tremendous resilience
Key performance indicators for Melbourne’s famous shopping strips are emerging, as the strips move further through a period of renewal and demonstrate a tremendous resilience in the face of planning uncertainties and increased cost-of-living.
Vacancies along the shopping strips increased slightly over the past year, from a near-historic low 6.5% to 7.2% currently, according to Fitzroys latest Walk the Strip report, but remain below the longterm average vacancy rate of 7.3%.
The Fitzroys Walk the Strip report series has been running since 2017 and is the industry standard for data across Melbourne’s key shopping strips. This year’s edition details the vacancy rates and tenancy make-ups of 37 strips.
Fitzroys 2025 edition of Walk the Strip showed:
• A new set of key performance indicators are providing the secrets to a successful shopping strip.
• Food and beverage continued to be the most prominent sector in terms of enquiry and leases, and was steady as a proportion of Melbourne’s strips at 30.9%.
• Service retail reduced from 28.1% to 27.0%.
• Specialty retail decreased slightly to 33.4%, while continuing to account for the highest proportion of Melbourne’s strips by sector.
• The proportion of development sites more than doubled to 1.5% as the strips continued a period of renewal.
“Strips with an evenly balanced tenancy mix, with at least one major supermarket, combined with commercial or residential development activity, and solid transport accessibility are performing strongly,”
“Among the best examples have been Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds and Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, which tick the boxes on each of these indicators, resulting in extremely low vacancy,”
“Strips with an even split between specialty retail, services, and food and beverage have been the standouts. These strips offer a more comprehensive one-stop experience for shoppers, who can buy their groceries, meet for a coffee, visit the gym, get a haircut, and purchase a new fashion garment all in the same trip.”
As well as Puckle Street and Glen Huntly Road, other strong-performing strips over the past year with even tenancy mixes include Centre Road, Bentleigh; Clarendon Street, South Melbourne; Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn; Glenferrie Road, Malvern; Hampton Street, Hampton; High Street, Northcote; Toorak Road, South Yarra; and Whitehorse Road, Balwyn.
All but two of the above listed strips posted a vacancy rate below their own long-term average.
At least one major supermarket anchors nearly all these strips, Lockwood noted.
“Supermarkets are typically at the core of shopping strip activity – they’re where we get our essentials and are the most-visited offering on a strip, drawing shoppers from a wider catchment than other traders, but provide a profound spillover in activity.”
“Melbourne’s strips are demonstrating a tremendous resilience”
Centre Road, Bentleigh has been the best example of the pulling power of supermarkets. Its Coles, Woolworths and Aldi offering is home to the lowest vacancy rate in Melbourne, at just 1.0%.
Accessibility is increasingly a key indicator of strong performance.
“Having at least a train line or tram line nearby is very important as public transport usage in Melbourne continues its rebound , and good surrounding car parking is essential. People are simply more likely to visit a strip when getting there is hassle-free,” Lockwood said.
He said residential and commercial developments are boosting the immediate catchments of strips through all hours, tipping the sheer weight-of-numbers of visitors and combined spending power in favour of strips and their traders.
Resilience and renewal
“In the face of planning uncertainties, and a cost-ofliving pressures, strip vacancies remain below their long-term average.
The post-COVID years have seen fundamental shifts in Melburnians’ lifestyles, which are supporting trade along the city’s shopping strips. Working from home has meant we are spending more time than ever in our shopping strips, which is offsetting the impact of costof-living challenges.
“Our shopping strips remain our favourite places to connect with the community. Melbourne gravitates towards its strips.”
Lockwood said Melbourne’s strips are continuing to evolve, with new developments on and around the strips reshaping them.
In the coming years there is the $3.75 billion transformation of The Jam Factory on Chapel Street, South Yarra into a mixed-use precinct with residential towers, offices, new retail, hospitality, and cinema complex, and 5-star and boutique hotels; meanwhile, multiple medium-rise residential, office and developments approved for Bridge Road, Richmond will give the strip a boost.
Puckle Street is the current poster child for the positive impacts of intensive development on a shopping strip. It is at the very heart of the current generational development and population boom in Moonee Ponds, with some 2,000 apartments in the surrounds to go with newly completed major residential developments such as Penny Lane, while the $2 billion overhaul of Moonee Valley Racecourse is underway and will ultimately add thousands more residents to the immediate catchment.
HOSPITALITY TENANTS AGAIN WERE MOST ACTIVE
“The population surge around Puckle St has really supported businesses and offers excellent trade prospects. Tenants are looking to get into Puckle Street for the here and now, and for the long-term,”
Over the longer-term, the Victorian government’s Activity Centres, around key tram, train, jobs and services hubs such as shopping strips, were progressively announced during the 2025 Walk the Strip reporting period . The Activity Centres aim to accommodate more than 300,000 new homes by 2051, as part of the state’s efforts to accommodate 1.8 million homes across metropolitan Melbourne by then.
“The Activity Centres planned by the Victorian government will provide a major boost for many of Melbourne’s strips over the longterm, enhancing their immediate catchment and promoting trade and activity,”
“For now, however, there is a period of uncertainty and price rediscovery – many landlords are waiting for new planning amendments to be finalised, at which time landlords will be able to strategically review their holdings, before committing to new leases with new and existing tenants. This is particularly in light of the rising state government land tax imposts.
“This may have contributed to the modest rise in vacancies we’ve seen in strips such as Burke Road and Camberwell Junction, Bay Street in Brighton, High Street, Armadale, and Malvern Road, Hawksburn.”
Melbourne benefited from the largest population growth across the capitals according to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics , and its percentage gain of 2.7% was second-highest and above the national average.
“Melbourne’s shopping strips offer some of the best lifestyle experiences and are attracting existing residents of the city and new arrivals to their proximity. Development on and around the strips is accommodating a lot of this nation-leading population growth, and the Activity Centres initiative will further facilitate this over the coming years.”
New opportunities for new faces
“Many leases that were signed during COVID are now coming to an end. This is creating new opportunities for new faces to enter the retail landscape and make their mark on Melbourne,”
“Rents have increased over this time, but not necessarily to a point at which they’re prohibitive for tenants. Tenants are still seeing opportunities in prime locations that traditionally would not have been available to them.
“In some cases, however, tenants are backing their modern-day marketing strategies – using social media platforms to promote their business, and taking up smaller or more peripheral spaces, rather than allocating extra capital to rents in the prime of a strip with the historical belief that foot traffic alone will drive more turnover.”
“Food operators took up smaller fitted-out spaces early in COVID as a capital- and time-effective means of opening up to new markets and catering to the surge in demand for meals either picked up by the customer or delivered via services such as Uber Eats, and this continues to support hospitality trade.
“Hospitality tenants are still noting demand in the market for quality products, and the importance of delivering the right products to the right audience by understanding location demographics and consumption patterns. They’re identifying market gaps for specific offerings, which remains a significant driving factor.”
Across each of the retail sectors, shops with fit-outs are typically the first to be taken by tenants. Cold shells are moving slower, reflecting elevated fit-out costs – which are often proving to be more prohibitive to tenants than rent levels.
“Wellness and fitness is a growing sector. More gyms and yoga and Pilates studios are taking spaces in shopping strips, and are also gradually making their way into more prominent locations,”
New titleholder
Centre Road, Bentleigh has for the first time taken the title of the lowest vacancy rate in Melbourne, recording a rate of just 1.0%. Just behind was perennial titleholder Church Street, Brighton with 1.4%.
“Centre Road, Bentleigh is an excellent example of the pulling power of three supermarkets,” Lockwood said.
“This has kept it in good stead throughout the 2020s.”
“It also offers excellent accessibility by public transport and car, with plenty of parking available and the Victorian government’s level crossing removal program making the strip much easier to navigate.”
Like Centre Road, fellow Glen Eira strip Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick has been a marked improver in recent years, benefiting from train, tram and car accessibility to go with several new high-density developments boosting the local population and driving pedestrian traffic and trade. Vacancies along the strip – which is home to a dynamic combination of national food and beverage retailers and vibrant local eateries –are just 3.4%, down from 5.4%.
But it was Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds that improved yet again to snatch a podium finish, coming in with a sharp vacancy rate of 2.4% as it benefited from the aforementioned development and population boom.
Puckle Street is supported by a triple supermarket offering of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, Moonee Ponds Central shopping centre and Kmart, in addition to popular local retailers and eateries. Moonee Ponds is also home to a growing commercial market and workforce, which includes the Australian Taxation Office and Honda head office.
The location has excellent public transport linkages by train, tram and bus, and easy connectivity to major road arterials and ample parking, and is just seven kilometres north-west of Melbourne’s CBD.
“Residential activity, commercial activity, parking and public transport continue to be great indicator as to the prospects of a Melbourne shopping strip”.
Whitehorse Road, Balwyn again recorded a low vacancy rate, at 4.1%. Busy Hampton Street, Hampton increased, but at 4.4% was comfortably below its longterm average. High-performing High Street, Armadale – home to the highest prime shopping strip rents in Melbourne – was at 5.1%. Across the bustling innernorth hospitality and lifestyle strips, High Street, Northcote was at 5.6%, Smith Street, Collingwood was 5.4%, and Lygon Street, Brunswick East was 4.5%. Each of these have been bestowed honours from influential global publication Time Out in recent years, namely Coolest Street in the World (High Street and Smith Street ) and Coolest Neighbourhood in the World (Lygon Street as the heart of Brunswick East ). Swan Street, Richmond continued to capture the daytime crowds of the Cremorne and Richmond office boom and the nightlife, sports and events crowds, improving to 4.6%.
Chapel Street, South Yarra increased to 9.1% while fellow strip mainstay Lygon Street, Carlton similarly lifted to 9.2%, but both were comfortably below their long-term averages. Acland Street, St Kilda increased to 10.5%. Bridge Road, Richmond – effectively three individual strips – saw mixed results. The stretch from Punt Road to Lennox Street, dominated by the Epworth Hospital and medical tenants, saw vacancies balloon out to 18.7% (the highest of all strips); the middle stretch from Lennox Street to Church Street was one of the biggest improvers, down to a long-term low of 9.6%, and the eastern hospitality-heavy stretch, which has been the best-performing section historically, saw vacancies jump to 12.7%.
Camberwell Junction saw vacancies lift across the board for a combined increase to 10.8%. From the Junction to Camberwell train station, vacancies along Burke Road increased to 8.8%.
“Food
and beverage has been prominent again – as has been the case since the beginning of COVID.”
Richmond BRIDGE ROAD
Bridge Road has evolved significantly, with shifting demographics and new development transforming the former factory outlet hub into three distinct and connected retail precincts, each offering its own distinct characteristics.
Bridge Road is now undoubtedly going through a period of renewal, with multiple residential, office and hotel developments on the immediacy of the strip approved, and more moving through the planning process which will serve to support trade in the coming years. Around Punt Road to Lennox Street, more office supply is mooted, to add to the medical hub surrounding Epworth Hospital, while from Church Street east to the Yarra River there is more residential supply in response to Richmond’s lifestyle appeal.
Supported by the Richmond Traders development, Bridge Road’s middle section – running between Lennox Street and Church Street – has gone from recording the highest vacancies in Melbourne in
2024 to become the city’s most improved strip in 2025. The development Included a new Coles and Liquorland, and a range of food offerings and service retailers, creating a new focal point for the strip. The evolution of the Epworth Hospital at the city end has been a draw card for gyms, allied health and skin clinics to establish themselves; and while vacancy levels remain elevated, this presents significant opportunity for new tenants to capitalise on a highly visible and evolving precinct.
The east end, between Church Street and Burnley Street, has become the prime trading section of Bridge Road home to a strong concentration of hospitality and bulky goods operators, although this part also saw vacancies increase in the past year.
Bridge Road, Richmond vacancies rose to 13.4% in 2025, still indicating a positive downward trend since 2021 in this evolving retail precinct.
VACANCY RATES
BOUZY ROUGE
CHURCH STREET
BRIGHTON
Church Street is the perennial titleholder of Melbourne – and arguably Australia’s – strongestperforming shopping strip. In a rare occurrence, the powerful Brighton strip ranked second rather than first for lowest vacancy rate; however, it still returned a rate of just 1.4% while continuing to command among the highest rents in Melbourne.
Long queues of retailers constantly jostle to find a home in Church Street: it services one of Melbourne’s most established and most affluent catchments, home to some of Melbourne’s most expensive house prices and sought-after schools, while the strip’s relatively limited size makes it all the more exclusive.
The catchment supports one of the highest proportions of specialty retail in Melbourne, led by high-end names Salt Clothing, Assembly Label, Elka Collective, Carla Zampatti, Flannel, Trenery, Witchery and Silvermaple.
In a statement play reflecting the spending power of the strip, high-end menswear retailer Rodd & Gunn made its Melbourne shopping strip debut on Church Street, while The Athlete’s Foot opened a new flagship on the prominent Carpenter Street corner. Eyeware retailers OPSM and Bailey Nelson opened new shops, increasing the representation of service retailers.
They combine for an attractive offering alongside the popular Palace Cinemas complex at the Dendy, a host of national retailers and food and beverage eateries plus a full line Woolworths supermarket.
Church Street, Brighton: Exceptionally low vacancy rate at 1.4%; high-end retail destination with premium rents.
VACANCY RATES
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CLARENDON STREET
SOUTH MELBOURNE
Clarendon Street, South Melbourne is at the heart of one of Melbourne’s oldest neighbourhoods, which is today home to a fast-growing, in-demand office market and has a front-row seat to the Fishermans Bend boom, putting South Melbourne in the frame to become the next Cremorne.
Flexible working arrangements have spurred more Melburnians to live, work and play in accessible inner-city locations with quality lifestyle amenity.
The Clarendon Street precinct provides an evenlybalanced tenancy mix Including Coles, Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s, Vintage Cellars, Bed Bath N’ Table, Hector’s Deli, Betty’s Burgers, national F&B operators Grill’d, Oporto, Nandos, Zues Street Greek, Hunky Dory, San Churro plus all major banks, a plethora of pubs and a number of popular local operators, and is complemented by retail activity along adjoining Coventry Street and York Street through to South Melbourne Central and the famous South Melbourne Market.
This combined offering has sparked a commercial and residential development boom in the surrounds, with construction currently underway on projects including Hacer’s 162-180 Clarendon Street and 182200 Clarendon by Lowe Living.
This is all before taking into account the development in neighbouring Southbank, as well as the adjacent Fisherman’s Bend precinct, earmarked by the Victorian government as a development-intensive urban renewal area that is forecast to accommodate 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2050 .
Vacancies along Clarendon Street tightened over the past year, with an increase in both food and beverage and shops being set aside for development. New hospitality operators include Alonso’s Donuts, Chinese restaurant Kopo Cuisine, Japanese and Korean fusion eatery Moon Mart, healthy fast food slingers Fishbowl, and Starry Hong Kong Café.
Clarendon Street, South Melbourne maintains a stable 6.3% vacancy rate in 2025 from 6.4% in 2024, reflecting its status as Melbourne’s premier cultural and lifestyle hub.
VACANCY RATES
GLENFERRIE ROAD
HAWTHORN
Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn has emerged as a foodie hub in recent years. The eateries, restaurants and takeaway places cater to students of Swinburne University, the surrounding schools and a growing local office market, accounting for one of the highest proportion of hospitality tenants across any of Melbourne’s strips – while continuing to keep vacancies well below the long-term average.
Hospitality operators recently joining the strip have included Italian eateries Pastagogo and Pasta Prego, Basque cheesecakes specialists BetterBurnt, St George Greek Eatery, sandwich shop Between Two Slices, Wabi Sushi, and Gong Cha bubble tea.
Lido Cinemas remains a major attraction of the strip, benefiting from the rear car park and hospitality mix on its ground floor that is home to Vaporetto, Cookie Box, and Yo-Chi. Glenferrie Road also has a strongtrading set of specialty food retailers include boutique grocer The Leaf Store, Haigh’s Chocolates, and Glenferrie Gourmet Meats, as well as a Coles Local.
Heightened residential and commercial development activity on and around the strip has further spurred activity. McMullin is planning to replace the former Westpac building at 655 Glenferrie Road with a fivelevel office project , while Outline Projects has just lodged plans for 41 apartments and several retail spaces at 846-858 Glenferrie Road.
Boroondara Council in recent years adopted the Glenferrie Place Plan , which proposes a number of initiatives to improve the strip, including streetscape renewal, transforming a council car park into a new “Glenferrie Mews” with business and education opportunities, and creating a cultural quarter around Hawthorn Arts Centre and Hawthorn Library.
From 6.3% in 2024, Glenferrie Road’s vacancy rate rose slightly to 6.6% in 2025, reflecting a subtle market adjustment in this established retail precinct.
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GLEN HUNTLY ROAD
ELSTERNWICK
A dynamic mix of food, fashion and services has seen Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick become one of Melbourne’s most vibrant shopping strips. In a show of its strength, vacancies have decreased in the past year to 3.4%, among the lowest in Melbourne.
An uptake in specialty retail has been powering the strip, headed by women’s fashion brand Cable, while joining the well-rounded hospitality offering were sandwich slingers Saul’s, Chargrill Charlie’s, Ô My Crêpe, and Acai Affair. New entrants also included Pilates studio Upstate and beauty clinic D’AMARI Aesthetx.
The strip draws constant foot traffic from an established and growing catchment, with both the Victorian Government and Glen Eira Council planning for further medium and high-density development around Glen Huntly Road.
A residential project on the former ABC studios site on Selwyn Street has been given the green light, and will bring 148 apartments across 11 and 10-storey towers and a new Woolworths supermarket to the area, while developers Milieu and Besen are set to redevelop another former ABC site nearby on Gordon Street. These will follow on from the recently completed mixed-use developments EVA, which brought new retail space and 101 apartments to the strip, and The Huntly, which added retail, office, and 22 apartments.
Glen Huntly Roads’s vacancy has dropped drastically since 2021 and continues its downward trend to 3.4% in 2025, showcasing a remarkable retail resurgence.
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ARMADALE HIGH STREET
High Street, Armadale has built a case for the title of “Melbourne’s best shopping strip”, retaining low vacancy for another year and commanding the most expensive retail rents in Melbourne.
High Street services a broad, established and wealthy demographic base and has secured a premium collection including Scanlan Theodore, Cos, Zimmermann, Camilla and Marc, Dissh, Viktoria & Woods, Bassike, and Rebecca Vallance. The catchment’s spending power supports a specialty retail proportion of nearly 66% – the highest in Melbourne, growing further in the past year with the entrances of Nude Lucy, P. Johnson and Elka Collective.
High Street has emerged as a leading example of the transformation occurring across Melbourne’s shopping strips, driven by significant development activity. Recent years have seen vacancy rates reduce in line with an uplift in new projects, delivering both residential apartments and additional retail offerings directly to the strip.
This continued investment has strengthened the precinct’s position, supported by a high-spending local catchment that underpins strong trading performance. The Alara project at 953-967 High Street added new apartments and created a new foodie hub – home to famous Sydney butcher Victor Churchill, as well as popular bakery Ned’s Bake & Bistro and Japanese salad purveyor Fishbowl. Book ending the strip, Moda’s 835 High Street development delivered worldfamous Lune Croissanterie and boutique grocers The Leaf Store. Heirloom Armadale at 1187 High Street will bring 30 residences, and H.Co Property’s 935-959 High Street project will deliver 26 apartments above commercial buildings, and some 1,000sqm of new office space and ground floor retail has been mooted for 1147-1151 High Street.
High Street vacancies in Armadale lifted from 2.3% to 5.1% signalling a slight market adjustment.
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1097-1111 High Street, Armadale Marshall White, Chemist Warehouse, Purebaby & Institchu
1216-1230 High Street, Armadale Shakez, Who Boutique, Goodlife, Tom Nails & Stuff’d
1047-1051 High Street, Armadale MP Jewellery, onepointsevenfour, Dior & Amar Skin
- 1187 High Street, Armadale
The Carlile - 929-933 High Street, Armadale Hewson & Cobild
Amara - 969-975 High Street, Armadale
1147-1151 High Street, Armadale Helant Pty Ltd
CARLTON LYGON STREET
The strong resurgence in Melburnians dining out and socialising has revitalised Lygon Street, Carlton, with activity levels once again thriving. Vacancy rates along the city’s most renowned dining strip have remained below the long-term average for a further year. At 60%, Lygon Street’s proportion of hospitality tenants is the highest of any strip. Traditionally Melbourne’s “Little Italy” – home to staples such as Donnini’s, Tiamo, Scopri and Da Guido La Pasta –there is an increasingly diverse range of offerings. Among the latest entrants are Mexican restaurant Street Taste, Indonesian eatery Waroeng SS Spesial Sambal, Malaysian restaurant Warong Mummy, and Japanese-inspired healthy fast food brand Fishbowl.
Meanwhile, the landmark King and Godfree building at the prominent corner of Lygon and Faraday streets is undergoing another rebirth, with the iconic deli, wine store, café and restaurant Agostino under renovation.
Already home to rooftop bar Johnny’s Green Room, this will breathe new life into the heart of the strip, and further promote all-hours trade along with bars such as Heartattack and Vine, and the popular Cinema Nova complex.
The rapid transformation of Carlton in accommodating student and residential apartment developments is further supporting trade. In addition, Lygon Street has excellent tram and bus connections and plentiful public car park options, and the brand-new Parkville Station will soon open within walking distance as part of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project.
Lygon Street, Carlton vacancies rose to 9.2% in 2025, indicating tightening consumer budgets, and shifts in foot traffic patterns.
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MOONEE PONDS PUCKLE STREET
Positioned at the heart of Moonee Ponds’ generational populational and development boom, Puckle Street is the major lifestyle hub of the inner northwest, and continued to see vacancies tighten to remain one of the strongest retail strips in metropolitan Melbourne.
Puckle Street’s healthy tenancy mix complements the retail offering around the strip that includes Moonee Ponds Central with a Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets plus Kmart, as well as service retailers and allied health clinics, to go with a millennialdriven nightlife scene along the Mount Alexander Road extension.
Food and beverage was the key driver of vacancies tightening over the past year, led by the introduction of fast-expanding Mexican food chains Guzman Y Gomez and Royals Stacks at the base of the Penny Lane development, which has introduced 114 apartments, a Palace Cinema, and a Brunetti Classico to Moonee Ponds.
Puckle Street is perhaps the best current example of the transformative impact of development on a Melbourne shopping strip: Penny Lane follows on from the Mason Square tower on the 1.34-hectare former Moonee Ponds market site and a bevy of medium- and high-density projects that have taken the local apartment tally to around 2,000.
Meanwhile, the first residents have started moving into the $2 billion Moonee Valley Racecourse transformation, which will deliver another 2,000 dwellings as well as commercial space, a new race track, grandstand and events spaces that will enhance its international standing and put an emphasis on night racing, further activating the local hospitality scene.
Vacancies in Puckle Street dropped slightly from 3.1% in 2024 to 2.4% in 2025, continuing a solid downward trend in this prevalent retail district.
VACANCY RATES
SWAN STREET
RICHMOND
By day, Swan Street buzzes with the worker population of the booming Cremorne and Richmond office markets frequenting its cafés and eateries. By night, sports fans, concert-goers and crowds from across Melbourne pack its restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs. Service retailers were notably active in the past year as barber Vue Studio, Richmond Hair Rescue and clinic Budding Wellness opened their doors, while wine bar and pub Nixie Nox and paint-and-sip experience Fine Folie were also among the new additions. The latter join a bustling hospitality offering that includes live music favourite The Corner, pre-game mainstays Bar 9T4 and Richmond Club Hotel, as well as restaurants New Quarter, Tartine, Attria Wine and Fargo and Co. Coles Supermarket anchors the broader offering, dotted with popular cafés and a host of national retailers.
Cremorne and Richmond have been in the throes of a development boom that has seen the surrounds become Melbourne’s version of Silicone Valley. More development is on the way – Bayley Stuart’s 101 Cremorne Street project has been approved for nearly 11,000sqm of A-grade space and new retail tenancies; Alfasi Property has received approval for its $600 million redevelopment of the Bryant and May industrial complex, which will deliver new buildings of up to 13 storeys accommodating office, hospitality spaces and a 198-room hotel. Salta and Zagame Group have been given the green light for a 17,000sqm commercial building at 475 Church Street, and Salta is also planning an 8,600sqm eight-level office and retail building at 122-128 Dover Street, Cremorne.
From 7.2% in 2024, Swan Street Richmond’s vacancy rate decreased to 4.6% in 2025, marking a significant improvement.
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SOUTH YARRA TOORAK ROAD
Spurred by the intensive development of neighbouring Forrest Hill, Toorak Road, South Yarra has transformed into a varied lifestyle offering, featuring popular high-end hospitality venues such as France Soir, Token and Da Noi, plus specialty retailers including Mecca, and an abundance of service operators.
Toorak Road, South Yarra has consistently maintained single-digit vacancy rates, with this year’s rate tightening further to 5.7%. That came on the back of an increase in services retailers moving in, including wellness centre The Wellness Clinics and massage and sauna Newleaf Spa, as well as new hospitality venues Mr L’s Bar and Restaurant, Gracie’s Wine Room, Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Today, Athenian street food eatery Kolonaki, salads, juices and smoothies slingers Jivit Maars, and Iceberg Bubble Tea & Fast Food.
Further renewal through South Yarra is in store that is expected to have a positive impact on the fortunes of Toorak Road. Oreana Group is planning a $250 million Fender Katsalidis-designed redevelopment of South Yarra Square and a neighbouring row of shops, which will deliver 13 levels of offices, new retail offerings, restaurant, café and bar, while V-Leader’s $100 million, 12-storey retail and office development at the Hotel Claremont site is nearing completion. Meanwhile, around the corner is Gurner and Qualitas’s $3.75 billion redevelopment of The Jam Factory, which will deliver 20,000sqm of new retail, commercial and office space, 800 residences, two hotels, and an upgrade to the existing Village Cinemas complex.
Toorak Roads vacancy decreased modestly from 6.3% in 2024 to 5.7% in 2025 suggesting a continued improvement for this stylish Melbourne strip.
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HIGHLIGHTS: BEYOND THE RETAIL PRECINCT
acland street, st kilda
Vacancies remained below the long-term average again in one of Melbourne’s most dynamic precincts. Known for its cafés, cake shops, restaurants and nightlife, Acland Street continues to perform well, particularly after 6pm. Wine bar Dawn & Mabel’s is amongst the newer after-hours offerings. Service retail increased with the introduction of phone, laptop and tablet repairers UVTech, and specialties were represented by The Outlet and Instore Clothing.
bay street, Brighton
Once viewed as a “poor cousin” to nearby powerhouse Church Street, Bay Street, Brighton has developed a quality retail mix of its own, underpinned by one of Melbourne’s strongest service retail offerings. It again recorded single-digit vacancies as pamper party venue Studio Royale and dining and wine bar establishment 81 Bay & Baix moved in. The broader hospitality offering feeds off Hotel Brighton, which can lay claim to be Bayside’s number one pub.
brunswick street, fitzroy
Vacancies along the inner-north hospitality and lifestyle strip continue to outperform the Melbourne market average. Brunswick Street has one of the highest proportions of food and beverage operators, added to recently by Japanese eateries Kushiro Fusion Cuisine and Ramen Ako’s, Benny’s American Burger, Thai eatery PrikThai, and global gelato servers Good Daze Canteen. Adding to the vibrant specialty retail offering were pre-loved fashion shop Let’s Take Two, and arts, handcrafted goods and jewellery shop Del Be Del.
camberwell junction
One of Melbourne’s more established and renowned shopping precincts, Burke Road and Camberwell Junction are tipped to benefit from local and state government plans for ongoing medium and high-density residential development in the immediate surrounds, as well as from growing inner-east office market. Food and beverage increased over the past year with the introduction of Japanese and Korean restaurant Shuu, acai bowl slingers Lovabowl and Yummy Banh Mi on Burke Road, while adventurous bakery Toast House and café The Finest Brew opened on Riversdale Road, alongside organic grocers Camberwell Wholefoods.
carlisle street, balaclava
Vacancies along Carlisle Street, Balaclava remained stable over the past year, once again sitting below both the citywide benchmark and the precinct’s long-term average. As its cosmopolitan offering continues to draw visitors from a local catchment and the surrounding southside suburbs. The rich and varied hospitality line-up includes local institution Glick’s Bakery, credited with bringing bagels to Melbourne, and one of the city’s first hole-in-the-wall cafès, Wall Two 80, through to a suite of trendy restaurants and nightspots, coffee shops, and traditional bakeries. At 40% of the retail make-up, the food and beverage proportion is one of the highest of any strip in Melbourne, and is at a long-term high for the strip.
centre road, bentleigh
A standout strip since 2020, Centre Road has, for the first time, claimed Melbourne’s lowest vacancy rate, recording an exceptional 1.0%. The strip continued to prove the power of a triple supermarket offering, plentiful car parking, and enhanced accessibility via the state government’s level crossing removal project and the effect this has on retail performance. Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, together with a broad offering of fashion, services, fresh food, café culture and eateries gives Centre Road one of the more evenly-balanced retail tenancy mixes in Melbourne, which draws shoppers from a large catchment. Take-up has more recently been driven by the services sector: a suite of fitness studios have opened including Orana Pilates and Wellness, Inner State Melbourne and M Standard Pilates, to go with mobile and laptop repair centre iTech Care. Indian grocery Quality Bazaar was another addition.
chapel street, south yarra
Famous Chapel Street, South Yarra is often cited as a bellwether for shifts in Melbourne’s shopping strip landscape – reflected in heightened vacancies during COVID, into a sensational rebound in line with surging development and greater synergy between landlords and tenants, and now a stabilisation. Women’s fashion brand Supré and Portuguese jewellery and homewares retailer and café Gold Over Blue moved in, and world-renowned artist Vincent Fantauzzo opened his new art gallery. The strip is set to be reshaped in the coming years by the $3.75 billion redevelopment of the Jam Factory, which will deliver new commercial, retail and hospitality space, 800 apartments, two hotels and a new cinema complex.
chapel street, prahran
Like its more high-profile sister strip immediately to the north, Chapel Street, Prahran is expected to benefit over the longerterm from the influx of residents, workers and tourists brought by the upcoming Jam Factory redevelopment. Retail take-up over the past year was led by specialty retailers, including a new Vinnies op-shop and second-hand clothing store Chronological Error.
chapel street, windsor
Home to arguably the premier hospitality offering south of the Yarra – and home to one of the highest proportions of food and beverage in Melbourne – Chapel Street, Windsor saw vacancies decrease to 6.5% as more eateries and nightspots opened their doors. Among the new entrants were Ukrainian restaurant Otakoï, South American offering Mr Latino Cantina, and Yunnanese restaurant Na He Bistro, as well as piano bar Ivy, and sweets shop Arthur’s Candy.
douglas street, williamstown
Part of Williamstown’s multi-pronged strip offering, Douglas Parade is home to the highest proportion of service retailers in Melbourne. Vision Radiology added to the sub-sector’s representation, while Vietnamese eateries pair Yummy Yummy Banh Mi & Pho and Friends of Pho opened their doors. The strip was one of the bigger improvers over the past year, with all subsectors increasing in representation to help the vacancy come down to 6.1%.
ferguson street, williamstown
Vacancies along Williamstown’s more balanced retail offering have historically been quite low, and came in this year at 5.4%, again clearly below the Melbourne-wide average. Elephant Café opened, while service and specialty increased with gift shop The Presentation Place moving in.
fitzroy street, st kilda
Despite a perception among some of being a challenged strip,Fitzroy Street, St Kilda’s vacancy rates actually remained in single-digit territory for another year, and a $100-million plus pipeline of developments is in the works which will add to the immediate catchment and support trade over the longer-term. New entrants included Mexican eatery Taqueria and southern American comfort food offering Mama Rae’s; meanwhile, works have started at Erdi Group’s redevelopment of the former Rydges Hotel and Fortis Group’s 45-apartment project at number 61-73, and a block of serviced apartments is nearing completion at 99-105. A further 16 apartments are slated for a project at 3-15 Fitzroy Street.
glenferrie road, malvern
Glenferrie Road, Malvern is one of best proponents of the theory that a strong, established catchment leads to the consistent performance of a shopping strip, with further support from a spike in activity at the end of the school day, and plentiful public transport options and car parking. Vacancies remain in single digits on the back of a quality mix of local and national operators, anchored by Coles, Dan Murphy’s and all major banks, complemented by Glicks Bakery, Fleischer Cakes, kosher butchers and deli and smallgoods sellers. Recent take-up has been driven by specialty retailers such as clothing boutique Yours and Mine, the new Red Cross Shop, homewares, gifts and accessories retailer Found Malvern. Better Group clothing alterations also moved in.
high street, Kew
Vacancies along High Street, Kew lifted over the past year but yet again remained in single-digit territory. The strip is reliably supported by an established and affluent catchment, as well as the inner-east’s growing office market. High Street, Kew’s popular offering includes mix of grocery, post office, banking and other services. Brand-new tenants included Teochew Chinese restaurant Swatow Café and children’s party venue Origami Play Café, while Carpe Group opened a display room for their nearby 31-apartment development Studley Park Residences.
high street, Northcote
The “Coolest Strip in the World”, as recently declared by influential global publication Time Out , High Street, Northcote has emerged to become arguably Melbourne’s premier inner north lifestyle and hospitality precinct, with an array of popular eateries and live music venues joining local institutions such as the Northcote Social Club, Wesley Anne and Northcote Theatre. Greek spot Momus Boy and Oh! Banh Mi Pho were among the newest eateries, with cult bakery Calle bringing the queues for its croissants over from Carlton North.
lygon street, Brunswick east
Lygon Street, Brunswick East has emerged as one of Melbourne’s most popular inner-north lifestyle and hospitality strips, with its eclectic offering recently powering the suburb to sixth place in Time Out’s “Coolest Neighbourhood In the World” list . The strip again posted one of the lowest vacancies in Melbourne, energised by a surging local population filling the multitude of apartment towers that have emerged around the strip – and more are on the way. The proportion of hospitality tenants jumped on the back of new entrants Coffee Bar Elsie, Catalogue Coffee, and new restaurant Taverna Greek by prolific restaurateur Angie Giannakodakis and business partner Guy Holder.
malvern road, toorak
A distinct neighbourhood character with fine-grain shop-fronts, detailed façades and a leafy setting defines Malvern Road, Hawksburn – better known as Hawksburn Village. The affluent inner-city location supports a specialty retail offering of boutiques and gourmet food stores such as Stocked Food Store, and new addition high-end roast chook shop and deli Carvery. Vacancies remained in single-digit territory for another year. New developments, including The Mill and Maloura at the east end of the strip are set to boost the surrounding catchment and add further visitation to the precinct.
smith street, collingwood
In recent years named as “The World’s Coolest Street” by Time Out , Smith Street, Collingwood – home to a first-class offering of bars, cafés and eateries – is at the seat of a residential and office development boom in the inner north. Vacancies again tracked below the Melbourne-wide average with a mix of new tenants setting up shop. Middle Eastern restaurant Zareh, Burgerlot, Masses Bagels, The Cookie Box and salads and bowls slingers Crop represented the food and beverage set, with bottle shop Crooked Drinks also coming in; meanwhile; Pilates studios Rosy Movement and Sasana Studio are now working out the growing local population, and cult garments label Front Office Co have established a bricks and mortar presence. sydney
road, brunswick
Sydney Road – which claims to be not only Melbourne’s longest shopping strip, but the Southern Hemisphere’s – offers an eclectic and multicultural soup of bars, cafés, nightlife venues, eateries and restaurants, shopping, and services, which draws in visitors from across the inner-north and wider Melbourne. Joining the hospitality offering were South American restaurant El Manglar, burger place Crispy Crunch, popular bakery The Happy Bakers, a not-for-profit women’s support hub, café and restaurant Azeemah, with Venetian wine bar and ciccheteria Da Bepi on the way. Virtual Icon Vintage, Epic Vintage, pre-loved maternity, baby and kid’s fashion shop Usa-Ta! and Curiosities by The Jacob Miller Show have all opened their doors.
Toorak Road, Toorak
Toorak Village was one of Melbourne’s most improved strips over the past year, moving further through a period of transformation. Vicland’s eight-storey St Germain office development recently introduced a Coles Local to the strip, as well as a Cecconi’s restaurant and high-end gym Saint Haven by Tim Gurner. Orchard Piper residential, retail and office project on the corner of Mathoura Road is nearing completion and has plans for a $400 million luxury apartment project on the Mercedez-Benz dealership site which will add to the growing residential and worker population.
upper heidelberg road, Ivanhoe
While not having the same high profile as some of Melbourne’s other shopping strips, busy Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe has again quietly posted one of the lowest vacancy rates in Melbourne. Food and beverage increased to near-historic highs, with cult burger spot College Dropout opening its sister eatery, with fried chicken specialists Glory Fryed opening a few doors over, and popular Turkish kebabs place Azee Kebabs now opening their doors. The strip is ideally placed to capture the circa 37% population growth forecast for Ivanhoe by 2046 .
whitehorse road, Balwyn
Whitehorse Road, Balwyn again recorded one of Melbourne’s lowest vacancy rates, and is sitting well below its own long-term average. Food and beverage underpinned leasing activity in the past year; new entrants included restaurant Singapore Gu Chia Cui Chicken Rice, dessert venue Bath the Sheep and café Petit Peace Coffee Shokudo. Whitehorse Road trade has been supported by an established, affluent and reliable local catchment – but in a huge boost for the strip, Coles and local developer Dimas Property Group are teaming up to deliver a new full-line supermarket below 45 apartments in the coming years, a project set to add more shoppers locally and draw further from the surrounding suburbs.
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Endnotes
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