City Square, the plaza opposite Melbourne’s Town Hall, is still largely deserted nine months after reopening, with most of its ground-level businesses not operating. Multiple outlets report that cafes, bars and retail spaces under the Westin Hotel are still vacant and boarded up.
The articles describe the area as drawing few visitors, creating an atmosphere likened to a “ghost town.” While all sources focus on the lack of activity in the plaza, they differ mainly in emphasis and framing rather than core facts, pointing to continuing vacancies at street level and limited foot traffic since the reopening.
Together, the reports portray a square that has resumed its public function but has not yet attracted the level of tenants and patrons expected when it reopened. The common thread across coverage is the visible disconnect between the reopening of the public space and the continued closure of surrounding commercial outlets.
