He and architect-property manager George Katheklakis believe that with the right amount of vision and commitment the street could become an "urban oasis", a place that attracts people and business and community activity as its own unique precinct.

"There's enormous opportunity here. It's an open canvas," Mr Katheklakis said.

Running parallel to Northbourne Avenue between London Circuit and Turner's Haig Park, Moore Street is close to other parts of the city which are flourishing, including Braddon and Bunda Street.

But despite advantages such as its wide footpaths, tailor-made for outdoor dining, and its proximity to office workers in the city and apartment dwellers in the inner-north of Turner and Lyneham, Moore Street is largely overlooked as just a sterile canyon of lifeless buildings.

"It's not a hugely busy street but it's in between a lot of busy streets so it becomes a pocket which could be exploited to a point in terms of its calmer nature and its width. It should be an urban oasis, almost, within a very busy city," Mr Katheklakis said.

Mr Willis, famous for his two-hat restaurant Aubergine in Griffith, said it had "definitely" been a risk to open Temporada in Moore Street in a site once occupied by the Imperial Court Chinese Restaurant. The restaurant, a business venture with his sous chef Chris Darragh, had seen the site completely overhauled. Temporada had also attracted rave reviews, earning its own hat in the Fairfax Good Food Guide.

Mr Willis was attracted to the City West location because "we didn't want to be another Braddon" and "we wanted to find our own space in our own area".

"There is definitely potential here," he said.

"I think there is an issue with the parking and general community infrastructure because it is that concrete jungle without greenery or the other things that people like to see. As a business we draw them here but it would be nice if other things also drew them here or past the front door."

Mr Katheklakis manages the trust which owns 15 Moore Street, also known as ANZ House, which has Mr Willis as its tenant.

He said the ideal was for the business owners along the street to start talking about what was best for the area and for them to collaborate with the ACT government about possible investment.

The suggestions for improvement ranged from reorganising parking from parallel to perpendicular to fit in more vehicles, introducing more trees and sculptures, encouraging use of the footpath for dining and improving pedestrian access including across Barry Drive.

"We want to work with the government and we understand the resources of government are finite and they can't do great swathes or the city in one step. We totally get that. We should almost be workshopping parts of the city," Mr Katheklakis said.

"And this is reflecting the trends in urban development, If you have control of a precinct, say Hotel Realm or New Acton, you have got a degree of control over the urban environment. Whereas, if you are in a city, you're in a street arrangement with separate blocks, so you are relying on government to be your partner and that's where you need to bring the parties together to collaborate to achieve these integrated results."

Mr Katheklakis, who is president of the ACT division of the Property Council of Australia, said in this instance he was speaking as a private property manager.

Mr Willis, meanwhile, said Northbourne Avenue also had a big impact on people's willingness to visit City West.

"We call it The Northbourne Effect. People don't want to park there and walk here. They don't want to park here and walk there," he said.

But with a bit of creativity and focus on the area, Mr Willis believed another exciting precinct could be created for Canberra in Moore Street.

"I think there just needs to be bit of acceptance that there are other parts of the city and if Canberra is going to grow, the city needs to grow but it seems there are certain areas that get a lot more attention than others," he said.