Coates Lane East leads south off Little Collins Street between Spring and Exhibition streets. It previously ran parallel to Coates Lane West (also called Coates Lane 2) and the two lanes joined at their ends via a perpendicular track. The lanes were named after grazier Walter Coates, who purchased a property on the banks of the Yarra River in 1840. Both lanes were primarily residential from the 1890s to the 1920s, but gradually developed a more industrial flavour. Amongst the many small factories that appeared during the early twentieth century were the Australian Rubber Mills. Coates Lane West was built over in the later twentieth century.