Crown Entertainment Complex
Providing the Yarra’s unavoidable focal point, the Crown Entertainment Complex is Australia’s largest gambling and entertainment venue, stretching across 600m of riverfront west of Southgate between Queens Bridge and Spencer Street Bridge. Within the complex, you’ll find a casino, three luxury hotels (Crown Metropole, Crown Promenade and Crown Towers), designer-shopping boutiques and a variety of restaurants catering for a range of tastes and budgets.
Docklands
On what was once the city’s old dock area, Melbourne’s newest suburb, Docklands, is a large-scale commercial, residential and leisure development that’s slowly rising to the west of Southern Cross Station. The constantly evolving face of the area is set to undergo further developments in the coming years (notably a second attempt at the “Southern Star” observation wheel – a smaller version of the London Eye), but for now the restaurant promenade, NewQuay, on Victoria Harbour, and the ever-expanding Waterfront City are very much open to the public and gaining in popularity among Melburnians.
Eureka Tower
The riverside’s most innovative development is the new 92-storey Eureka Tower located on the Southgate site and named after a landmark rebellion in Victoria’s gold-rush era (the top levels are clad in gold). Finished in 2006 and towering 300m, it is the tallest building in Melbourne. Visitors can enjoy amazing views of the city and beyond from the 88th-floor Skydeck, which features the stomach-churning “skywalk” The Edge, a 3m glass cube that juts out over the city below.
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is a whimsical example of the city’s dynamic new architectural style: facing the river is an immense 450m-long glass wall, while the street entrance has an awning resembling a ski jump propped up by wafer-thin pylons. The complex hosts a range of large-scale public and trade exhibitions, conventions and events, and is worth checking out for its “6 Star Green Star” environmental rating design.