Two neighbouring Melbourne CBD buildings owned by the Lewenberg family have been bought by Chinese-backed developer Longriver.

It signals the end of almost 40 years of combined ownership for the buildings, which are situated on the north-eastern corner of Queen and Little Lonsdale streets at the junction of the legal precinct and the city’s retail core. 

The larger of the two properties at 288 Queen Street is a prominent, six-level corner building, which comprises several ground floor retail shops, first level office space and upper level residential accommodation, including a double-storey penthouse apartment with a large terrace and sweeping views across the city.  

The second asset is the neighbouring 328 Little Lonsdale Street, which was formerly the headquarters of Arnold Bloch Leibler solicitors

CBRE’s Melbourne City Sales team of Josh Rutman, Mark Wizel, Lewis Tong and Alex Brierley managed the sale campaign, via International Expressions of Interest. 

Alex Lewenberg said his family "couldn't be more pleased" with the result.

“We have been office workers, residents, shoppers and landlords in these buildings for many years, and it is wonderful to see how far the city has come since we first arrived," he said.

"We wish the new owners well.” 

The sale price reflected an approximate square metre rate of $35,000 – a record for the precinct. 

CBRE’s Josh Rutman said the successful bid highlighted that buyers were taking a longer term view of Melbourne's CBD market.

“While there are some clear challenges at present for high density development, the fundamentals remain strong when you consider the growth in daily population, office vacancy rates and tourism growth,” he said.

Source: CBRE

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