Bullseye: Dart-focused food and beverage venues score big city sites

David Heaton, chief executive of Perth-based Capitol Corp, scooped up Flight Club’s Australian rights to open its first venue in the West Australian capital and is on the cusp of opening another in Fremantle.

In Melbourne, on the corner of Russell and Little Lonsdale streets, Heaton is refurbishing the two-level Alexandra Building, transforming it into a cross between a traditional English pub and Victorian-era fairground.

The venue features a high-end food and drink menu, booths with real darts and boards, and cameras to pick up where the dart lands to take the friction out of playing the game.

“A lot of money is spent on the inside of the venues, in excess of $5 million. They look amazing, they really do,” Heaton said.

The club will focus on corporate team-building during the day and city revellers at night.

“Large tenancies that have become available post pandemic are attracting strong interest from international groups with strong financial covenants, particularly in areas with tourism and student foot traffic,” Harding said.

The dart-focused entertainment venues follow a string of others like Monopoly Dreams, Lego and table tennis bar, Paddle Battle, that are taking advantage of prime vacant spaces in the centre of town.

Monopoly Dreams opened its first Australian venue in GPT’s Melbourne Central shopping hub where Lego also took space and Paddle Battle is fitting out a 2500sqm site on the lower ground floor of the Aurora Tower in La Trobe Street.

Agents say falling rents and rising incentives are attracting bigger retailers into premium city spaces where they had been price out over the last decade.