Two new weekday venues are preparing to open on Eagle Street, adding another dining option within easy reach of Fortitude Valley as Brisbane’s riverfront business district continues to change.
SweetLeáf and LuLóu are being developed side by side at 70 Eagle Street by family-owned Brisbane hospitality group HomeTeam, with both expected to open in October.
While the venues are being designed primarily around the CBD weekday crowd, their arrival adds to a changing hospitality landscape immediately south of Fortitude Valley, where Eagle Street is also emerging from several years of construction and redevelopment.
Two different takes on the working day
SweetLeáf is being built around speed and convenience, with freshly prepared meals aimed particularly at workers looking for something they can collect without losing much of their lunch break.
Customers are expected to be able to order ahead and pick up their food, while communal seating will provide an option for those with time to stay.
Next door, LuLóu is taking a more leisurely approach.
The all-day venue is being designed for coffee meetings, longer lunches and afternoon wines, giving the two neighbouring businesses distinctly different roles despite sharing the same address.
Both are expected to operate Monday to Friday, with ALKOT Studio behind the interiors and Lowry Group undertaking the hospitality fit-outs.
Back where the HomeTeam story began
The new venues also mark a return to familiar territory for HomeTeam founder Kristina Carson.
Carson’s business connection with Eagle Street dates back more than 20 years, when her first business was established on the street. She later moved into hospitality, with MÁS Espresso opening on Eagle Street in 2019.
ÉLAN followed, and those businesses now sit under the HomeTeam banner alongside the two new concepts taking shape at 70 Eagle Street.
For the group, SweetLeáf and LuLóu therefore represent both an expansion and a return to the part of Brisbane where Carson’s business career began.
Changes inside and outside 70 Eagle Street
The building receiving the new venues has recently undergone a substantial transformation of its own.
A major refurbishment of 70 Eagle Street was completed in 2025, with works including a new ground-floor lobby and street awning, a refreshed façade and significant internal changes to the commercial tower.
The work is part of a much broader period of change along Eagle Street.
In February, the upgraded section of Brisbane’s Riverwalk reopened beside the Waterfront Brisbane construction site after being closed for about two and a half years.
The new six-metre-wide section between Charlotte and Alice streets restored the riverside pedestrian and cycling connection through the precinct, forming part of the continuous route between the Story Bridge area and the City Botanic Gardens.
Alongside it, work continues on the $2.5 billion Waterfront Brisbane redevelopment of the former Eagle Street Pier site, which is planned to deliver new office space, restaurants, retail and public areas along the riverfront.
SweetLeáf and LuLóu are much smaller additions to Eagle Street than the major development taking place around them, but they provide another indication of what the precinct is becoming as businesses begin filling the spaces alongside the construction.
For Fortitude Valley residents who work in the CBD or regularly head into this end of the city, that will mean another two weekday options when the doors open.
Construction is underway, with SweetLeáf and LuLóu currently expected to open in October 2026.
Published 1-Sept-2026
