Vacant shopfronts: Plan to activate Mackay CBD

A new plan to revive empty shopfronts in a regional Queensland CBD could be a big boost for the town’s businesses.

Four vacant windows in Wood and Victoria Streets will be activated for a trial program aiming to put an end to the Mackay CBD’s rampant tenant vacancy problem.

The once buzzing heart of the city is dotted with vacant shopfronts as people blame the Caneland Central shopping centre, a lack of parking and transport and not enough high density residential living for the exodus.

From a Think Tank into the topic to innumerous meetings, Mackay’s community leaders have been working passionately on ways to revive the city’s CBD.

There are more than 320 premises in the Mackay CBD from Milton St east to Brisbane St and from the Pioneer River south to Gordon St.

Of these, 74 were abandoned in October 2020; that figure reduced to just more than 60 in November 2021.

See the full list below.

Mackay CBD has many vacancies throughout. Picture: Max O'Driscoll.

As part of the revival, Mackay Regional Council will this month launch its window activation program in an attempt to activate the city’s centre.

The initiative will provide businesses the opportunity to advertise their products by creating decorative window displays.

Passers-by will be able to scan QR codes on their phones to buy products they like.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said the council had tried to pull together a similar project a few years back.

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He said seeing the success it had in other regional CBDs across eastern Australia, the council reconsidered, prompting the pilot trial.

“We’ve got a team that looks quite hard at the problems that we have within our CBD in terms of rental vacancies or vacant shops,” Mr Williamson said.

“What we are doing right now in terms of activating the space is just creating something in the windows that looks like things are going on but it is also as Councillor Hassan said, ‘a very novel approach to window shopping’.”

He said the council planned to turn what he described as “dull, drab inactive space” into something that will work for the community and whoever chooses to advertise in the window.

Mr Williamson said it would not be up to council to decide what products go there and interested businesses would drive the project.

“We can facilitate what happens there and through our grants program that is what we are doing, we just hope private enterprise gets on board and sees it as a very, very good fill-up for all of those vacant shops in the CBD,” Mr Williamson said.

“This is all about activating that vacant space and if we can activate it and somebody actually gets some benefit out of it, we as a community get benefit out of it because all of sudden the drab, vacant windows suddenly have something in them or advertised on them.”