The site of Rialto (Flinders Lane, Collins Street, Winfield Square and Robbs Lane) was occupied by several buildings including numerous small warehouses on Flinders Lane, Robb's Buildings (now demolished, named for the owner, railway builder John Robb), a grand classical styled 5-storey Victorian office building designed by Thomas Watts and Sons in 1885, and one of the largest in the city at the time two other interwar buildings on Collins Street, the Rialto Building (1889) designed by William Pitt and the Winfield Building (1890) designed by Charles Debro & Richard Speight, all part of an historic streetscape along Collins Street running up to the Olderfleet Building to the east.

During the 1970s, the large derelict site was owned by the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia and it was around 1979 when the first development proposal was prepared and submitted to the Melbourne City Council.

Little progress was made until 1980 when the site was acquired by Grollo Australia in a joint venture with St Martin's Properties.
Though a campaign was run by the National Trust of Victoria against the demolition of Robb's Building, Grocon successfully argued that it stood in the way of its major twin-tower proposal.
During the application process the Rialto and Windfield buildings were added to the Victorian Heritage Register, and a different future was determined for them.
This involved the creation of a hotel utilising the whole of the long rear wing of the Rialto Building, the replacement of the rear wing of the Winfield Building, and the creation of an atrium between.
The site of Rialto (Flinders Lane, Collins Street, Winfield Square and Robbs Lane) was occupied by several buildings including numerous small warehouses on Flinders Lane, Robb's Buildings (now demolished, named for the owner, railway builder John Robb), a grand classical styled 5-storey Victorian office building designed by Thomas Watts and Sons in 1885, and one of the largest in the city at the time two other interwar buildings on Collins Street, the Rialto Building (1889) designed by William Pitt and the Winfield Building (1890) designed by Charles Debro & Richard Speight, all part of an historic streetscape along Collins Street running up to the Olderfleet Building to the east.
During the 1970s, the large derelict site was owned by the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia and it was around 1979 when the first development proposal was prepared and submitted to the Melbourne City Council.
Little progress was made until 1980 when the site was acquired by Grollo Australia in a joint venture with St Martin's Properties. Though a campaign was run by the National Trust of Victoria against the demolition of Robb's Building, Grocon successfully argued that it stood in the way of its major twin-tower proposal. During the application process the Rialto and Windfield buildings were added to the Victorian Heritage Register, and a different future was determined for them. This involved the creation of a hotel utilising the whole of the long rear wing of the Rialto Building, the replacement of the rear wing of the Winfield Building, and the creation of an atrium between.
Rialto Towers