Its location next to the new Town Hall Station, under construction as part of the $11 billion Metro Rail project, makes it an attractive long-term investment proposition. “We’re keen to be a part of that,” he said.

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“We’re working collaboratively with various stakeholders to finalise a long-term leasehold tenure arrangement with the Nicholas Building Tenants’ Association to protect the interests of the artists who currently occupy the building,” Wain said.

“It’s a good example of private capital coming together with social enterprise to achieve an outcome that meets the goals of all stakeholders.”

Forza said it will also fund an upgrade the building’s heritage fabric.

On the ground floor is the architecturally significant Cathedral Arcade. It features a distinct historic post box set into one wall, prominent barrel-vaulted, leadlight ceilings, a patterned tiled floor and boutique retail spaces.

The transaction was overseen by agents from Gorman Allard Shelton, who have managed the building and its eclectic tenants for years, and Colliers International.

“The deal represents an outstanding outcome for the building and respects the long-term legacy of the occupants,” Allard’s Joseph Walton said.

Artist Dario Vacirca, who heads up the building’s tenant association, said its occupants had hoped to set up a foundation to keep the tower as a “creative space in perpetuity”.

However, the arrangement with Forza was “actually a pretty good model if the numbers work”.

“We have cultural capital, not financial capital. We’re trying to convert that into finance to make it possible,” Vacirca said. “We’re having good collaborative conversations.”

The four Toorak family groups – they include surnames like Davis, Smorgan, Cohen, Price, Silverstein and Samuel – who are on the cusp of selling the building, have owned it since 1973.

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