The lane is closed to all vehicles except delivery trucks between 5am and 12pm, to allow outside dining.
It was paved by the council and just before Christmas the Camp St end was graced by a pergola of wooden beams, over which grape vines will grow to form a canopy.
Hell Queenstown managing director Paul Wilson is part of a "loose gathering" of Searle Lane tenants and landlords who are working together to tidy up the lane and further develop it as an outdoor attraction.
Fairy lights may be installed the length of the street.
"It is quite special and I can say that if we do this it will increase the attractiveness of the lane to people.
"It's a process of getting the foot traffic coming past the doors.
"That's half the battle," Mr Wilson said.
The idea of fairy lights, similar to Sol Square in Christchurch, is being put to council engineers to see how it could be achieved.
"There's some lighting in the canopy, but the lighting along the lane is part of the discussions that are going on with the tenants group,"QLDC project manager Lane Vermaas said.
"They may come with something to the council, but I personally don't have anything to do with that," he said.
Installation of lights is only one of many ideas for improving the lane, Mr Wilson said.
"We have to work out how we can beautify the lane by removing the bins and crates and get it looking clean.
"Right now, it's a bit unwelcoming ... Also, you have probably noticed that Searle Lane & Social have got the outdoor dining going, so we are trying to get that outdoor atmosphere going more."
For Good Group director Russell Gray, who operates Bardeaux, Minibar and Barmuda along Searle Lane, the idea of outdoor dining was a definite sticking point.
"It could be further enhanced to include outdoor seating for people as a laneway.
"That would be great, but ... there has to be a change so that bars and restaurants can open their doors after 10pm," he said.
"We would like to see a more liberal policy in respect to noise, which would mean you would be able to sit outside after 10pm drinking, eating and socialising.
"There's no point doing up the lane if we have to close our doors after 10 o'clock."
The "antiquated" policy that restaurants and bars have to close their doors after 10pm is under review by the council as part of a wider review of the district plan dealing with noise issues in the central business district.
Submissions for the plan change close this Friday.
"I personally think that's extremely destructive and negative ... in summer you can't enjoy the late Queenstown evening. You have to go inside.
"And it's not just Searle Lane, it's the whole of Queenstown,"Although there are still several vacancies to be filled, Searle Lane & Social bar and restaurant co-owner Richard McLeod had already noticed an upturn in visitors to the area.
"Absolutely. There's more and more of a difference and I think it's because it's more and more becoming part of people's nights out.
"There's more of a range of people than before," he said.
Mr Wilson agreed that there was potential for the lane to be part of events such as the Winter Festival.
"That is something we have had discussions about ... and thought that we could dovetail on that and utilise the lane's uniqueness.
"For the world cup, it would be nice to have it as some kind of meeting area and certainly that will be something discussed in the future with Destination Queenstown and winter festival organisers."
