Chin Chin's Chris Lucas a hot tip to open Smith Street restaurant

Reports of the death of Smith Street? Greatly exaggerated, judging by developments on the strip.

Closely following the opening of Peter Gunn's restaurant IDES at the former Lee Ho Fook site and Fonda Mexican's plans to open its sixth restaurant at 236 Smith Street in July comes news that Chris Lucas has bought a property at 229 Smith Street, Fitzroy.

Lucas, who owns CBD hotspot Chin Chin, Baby Pizzeria and Kong BBQ in Richmond and Hawker Hall in Windsor, has declined to comment on the purchase, which would be his first northside project. But according to public records, "Lucas Conrad Elliot" has a buyer's caveat on the property.

The 1970s-era ANZ Bank came on to the market after Yarra City Council rejected the previous owners' application to build a seven-storey, 22-apartment building on the corner block.

Vendors Salih Kurtoglu and Hatice Kurtoglu paid $2.35 million for the property in 2010. Richard Miglic, from estate agents Miglic Dean, confirmed the property sold in February for well over $4 million.

The Smith Street site is not without local sensitivities: the corner is a gathering place for local Indigenous people and the development proposal was the subject of attention from the Smith Street Action Group.

The upshot? Don't expect to be sitting down to dinner at 229 Smith Street any time this year.

Meanwhile, the Sydney branch of Chin Chin is slowly taking shape inside the historic Griffiths Teas building in Surry Hills. Building is under way but the restaurant is unlikely to open until 2017.