Eureka Tower’s Skydeck hits the market

One of the country’s highest tourist attractions – the top two levels of Melbourne’s iconic Eureka Tower – have been put on the block by the private equity-owned hospitality company Journey Beyond for up to $50m.

The company is offering up levels 88 and 89 of the high-profile skyscraper as it reshapes its operations in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The Quadrant-owned group has tapped JLL’s Josh Rutman, MingXuan Li, Michael Godfrey and Peter Harper to sell level 88, known as Eureka Skydeck, one of the highest observation decks in the southern hemisphere, and level 89, which houses the Eureka 89 restaurant and event space.

The offer also includes the ground floor retail situated in the Eureka Tower at 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank.

Journey Beyond will stay in the ground floor retail and both upper levels on an initial 20-year lease with a commencing rental of about $3.3m and fixed annual rental increases.

Journey Beyond is a leading Australian tourism and hospitality operator with numerous iconic brands including The Ghan, Indian Pacific, Outback Spirit Tours and Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures.

“This iconic Melbourne investment opportunity presents an X Factor that will attract worldwide attention and will draw comparisons to other prestigious top floor offerings around the world,” Mr Rutman said.

The observation deck offers panoramic views of Melbourne and there is dedicated lift access from ground floor allowing the site to operate in the wake of COVID-19.

Mr Harper said the security of a long-term lease would be well received in the market, saying that Journey Beyond is Australia’s pre-eminent, experienced based tourism and hospitality operator.

Journey Beyond chief executive Chris Tallent said the company was the leading provider of experiential tourism in Australia and that Eureka Skydeck and Eureka 89 were two high performing assets in the portfolio with more than 500,000 visitors annually.

With additional reporting by Lisa Allen.

This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au.