Impact Investment, which recently ditched founding chief executive Chris Lock and replaced him with Goldman Sachs JB Were executive Daniel Madhavan, has launched a co-working hub and tech incubator in a refurbished 7000-square-metre woolstore on the Maribyrnong River.

The building, bought for $13.5 million in 2015, was formerly the Australian headquarters of Lonely Planet.

The Liberman family-backed fund submitted plans in May to convert part of the ground floor of the three-level brick building into a 150-seat restaurant with an outdoor seating area.

Maribyrnong Council indicated it would approve the restaurant but the proposal alarmed the Port of Melbourne who appealed the decision at Victoria's planning tribunal.

The Port has authority over the nearby hazardous Coode Island petrochemical storage facility.

In 1991 St Elmos Fire - a natural electrical reaction - ignited one of the Island's storage tanks, sparking a large explosion and burned 8.5 million litres of chemicals, sending a toxic plume drifting over Melbourne.

The risk of fires, explosions and toxic vapours from Coode Island's operations mean there is a planning overlay that covers surrounding areas, including IIG's Dream Factory.

The Port of Melbourne told the tribunal its main concern was that the restaurant would attract people who did not work in the area and weren't familiar with safety procedures.

"In an emergency event, people in the outdoor seating area might attempt to flee rather than shelter in place within the building," it said.

The Port was also concerned the restaurant would set a precedent and be followed by similar eateries in an "at-risk" area.

The Dream Factory is anchored by Inspire9, a community co-working business for start-ups, freelancers and creative entrepreneurs.

Other tenants include Engineers Without Borders Australia and the School Libraries Association of Victoria.

Workers in the building are meant to be drilled on safety procedures relating to any incidents involving Coode Island.

After mediation, IIG agreed to change the use of the ground floor to a cafe and reduce the amount of seating to 110 patrons with no outdoor area.

Advertising of the venue would be limited to deter patrons who did not work in the building.

"These amendments will make the cafe much less attractive to visitors to the area. Its external presence in the area will be very limited, particularly to the public walking/cycling trail along the Maribyrnong River," the tribunal members said.

Impact's mission is to invest in assets that provide deep social and environmental, as well as financial, returns. It has about $730 million under management.