Melbourne’s most prestigious business address – 101 Collins Street – has opened a new battlefront in its bid to protect its well-endowed city views, quietly gaining control of two properties on Exhibition Street.

At least four key sites south of 101 Collins have height restrictions on them. Credit:Eddie Jim

101 Collins’ owners have shown a wily and tenacious capacity to fend off nearby developments that might impinge on the million-dollar sight-lines of its A-list merchant bank and global law firm tenants. They include Gilbert + Tobin, Herbet Smith Freehills, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Boston Consulting.

For decades, interests associated with the tower – dubbed Collins Street’s "tower of power" – have quietly leased or bought and placed height-restrictive covenants on multiple neighbouring properties.

At least four key sites south of 101 Collins have height restrictions on them, protecting the tower’s expansive views south across the Yarra River to the Shrine of Remembrance.