Chapel St. is one of Melbourne's longest shopping strips and has been a Mecca for trendy clothes and style accessories ranging from high fashion to truly bohemian. Chapel Streets eclectic mix of dining outlets, fashion stores, pawnbrokers, and main stream retailers has lost its attraction with the general downturn in retailing and the council's Master Plan is designed to re-vitalise the whole precinct.
The new Master Plan involves a series of measures along the 4km shopping strip anchored by a plaza near Windsor Station at one end of Chapel St. and an innovative idea for a ferry terminal at the Yarra River end. The ferry would bring customers along the river from Melbourne City. In between the two anchors would be pedestrian friendly side streets, a new plaza on the current Cato St. carpark with parking underground, and measures like "pause points" with street furniture to enhance the customer experience. Chapel St. retailers have welcomed the plans.