The owners of the Onyx Bar in West Perth plan to spend about $1.2 million developing a chic restaurant and bar at the base of Exchange Plaza, after buying the lease to the site from well-known restaurateur Warren Mead.
The owners of the Onyx Bar in West Perth plan to spend about $1.2 million developing a chic restaurant and bar at the base of Exchange Plaza, after buying the lease to the site from well-known restaurateur Warren Mead.
The venue will be called X.O. Lounge, Restaurant and Bar and will be an upmarket eatery and late night drinks venue.
Mr Mead had planned to develop an Oyster Bar restaurant within the lobby of the building, which is home to the Australian Securities Exchange’s Perth office and a number of stockbroking and finance firms.
However, the site has been vacant ever since Mr Mead applied for a hotel licence in January 2005.
SAR Group Pty Ltd bought the lease after two months of negotiations and plans to start constructing X.O. restaurant and lounge bar in the new year.
The sale of the Exchange Plaza lease comes after Mr Mead sold his North Fremantle Oyster Bar on the Beach to publicans Craig Hutchison and Patrick Prendiville, and his former general manager Anthony Posniak.
Mr Hutchison and Mr Prendiville own The Leederville Hotel, The Claremont pub and Club Bayview nightclub.
SAR Group is owned by Rob and Sam Franchina, who bought Onyx Bar from Tony Sage about two years ago.
SAR Group managing director Geoffrey Selfe said X.O. would replicate the best inner-city lounge bars in Melbourne and Sydney and offer a sense of New York sophistication.
He said he had been investigating sites around the CBD to develop a bar for several months.
“The city is growing in the same way Sydney and Melbourne have done,” Mr Selfe said. “We think it’s a good opportunity.”
He said the restaurant and bar was scheduled to open in March.
He said X.O. would be an open-plan venue split in to two areas – the main dining room and the lounge bar.
Mr Selfe, who managed Leederville’s Niche Bar and Subiaco’s Llama Bar before running Onyx’s operations, said the centre piece of X.O. would be a white onyx marble bar, which would link the restaurant and bar areas.
He said the venue had been designed by Casella Designs and would feature partly exposed high ceilings.
The restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and will cater for about 90 people.
Mr Selfe said the restaurant would be “minimalist” with a mix of traditional seating and “intimate booths”.
He said the food would be based on high-quality seasonal produce with leaning toward seafood.
The bar is pitched squarely at the after-work drinks market and will be open to midnight, serving top shelf spirits, liqueurs, boutique beers, cocktails.
Mr Selfe added there would be a premium wine list, which would include a selection of French champagnes available by the bottle or glass.
