with the large overhang it looks like a commercial property vs a home (ie small hotel or office) -- Depending on the depth I would fill it in and place a nice bench or table set-- plants would have a hard time without sunlight. a picture of the whole front of the house would help get you more ideas

Here are some photos of the front

I pity the fish who had to live in that trough.

It is not a size suited to plantings.

I would remove the stone part and fill in with concrete to look like the rest of the drive.

I’d put the fountains and fish back, it’s a good fengshui.

I would do several things:
The entrance is pretty dark. I would replace the black trim with a white and paint the door a softer lighter color that would also look good with the black ironwork on the glass, a slate gray/blue.
I would fill in the water area. You can plant shade plants, looks like you live in the desert and they will do fine. You need some green in that area. Put in landscape lights, light colored landscape rock, or even white to lighten the area. Plants...gardenias would be one choice, green with white flowers. Any chance you can put in a skylight?
I would maybe stucco the rock trim. I may update it. Make the old water area smaller and widen the entrance with large soft gray concrete tiles or travertine.
Can the windows be make larger? I would actually take out the door and the 2 windows and make it all tall large windows.
The front of the house, i would landscape with coordinating rock, boulders, plants to soften it. Stucco or wrap the pillars with more modern stone. Still using lighter colors. The roof is dark so i would stay away from anything dark. Maybe only use dark oil bronze light fixtures to balance it out.
What a fun and challenging project! Show us what you did!