Reports of the demise of King Street's X-rated precinct appear to have been exaggerated.

Showgirls Bar 20, one of Melbourne's most notorious gentlemen's clubs, will return to its "spiritual home", despite a decade-long campaign by the city council, police and members of the Grollo property empire to clean up the strip.

Showgirls Bar 20 has risen again on King Street. Credit:Paul Rovere

The original Showgirls Bar 20 was the nation's only strip club to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange but had an appalling history of drunken violence.

The former venue at 46 King Street was bought in 2016 by Rialto Tower co-owners Grollo Group and St Martins Properties, who promptly closed the club as part of their long-term plan to gentrify the area.