John Batman was an infamous megalomaniac and drunkard who, in 1835, first claimed the site of Melbourne with the declaration ‘this will be the place for a village’ (which he wanted to call ‘Batmania’). He then organised the explusion of the Wurundjeri a small hill within this precinct, which became known as Batman’s Hill before it was removed to make way for the railways.
The Batman’s Hill precinct caps the end of Collins Street adjacent to the city grid and is the key to linking the docks to the waterfront.
It has no water frontage of its own, but is bordered by the financial district of the city, the Melbourne convention centre to the south, Southern Cross Station and Telstra stadium to the north, and Victoria Harbour to the west.
One of the two shortlisted proposals in 1997 were the Grollo Tower. The 560-meter Grollo Tower with residential, hotel and office functions was to be ‘world’s tallest building’ placed on alignment with an extension of Collins Street, surrounded by parkland above a large car park.