The pink eyesore is now a faint memory.
Where a pastel carwash once stood on the corner of Jesse Jewell and E.E. Butler parkways, crews are now putting the final touches on a red brick law office.
Mike Weaver said the new Weaver Law Firm building should be open for business by the end of the month. Many Gainesville residents, he said, have told him how relieved they'll be to see it completed.
"Every time I go somewhere people thank me because I've torn down that carwash," he said.
City and county officials are chiming in with their gratitude.
"The first big improvement was removing the blight of the carwash," said Tim Evans, vice president of economic development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. "But the Weaver building, it looks great; it's at the front entrance of the community."
The 12,000-square-foot building sits at the busiest intersection in Hall County and one of the most traveled in Northeast Georgia, Evans said.
Kit Dunlap, chamber president, said that improving the gateway to Gainesville will not just help the town, but the entire county.
"(The carwash) was an eyesore there for so many years and this is a great improvement," she said. "And your first impression, whether you like it or not, does matter."
The project was the first to take advantage of the city's tax allocation district funds, set aside to spur redevelopment in Gainesville's midtown and downtown districts.
Weaver applied for the TAD funding in February 2010 and was granted $71,000 by the Gainesville City Council a few months later.
Weaver wasted no time getting to work, tearing the car wash the following week. Construction on the new building began in July 2010.
On Thursday, crews lifted a two-story cupola onto the building with a large crane, putting the "cherry on top" of the project, Weaver said.
"I just feel very blessed," Weaver said. "It was a good day."
Weaver purchased the property three years ago and said that because of the prime location, he felt obligated to do the space justice. National companies occupy the buildings on the other three corners of the intersection, and Weaver said he and his wife have been "humbled" to build on the last space.
"We had a lot of reasons we really wanted to do it right," he said.
Inside the building, he has installed hard-wood floors and high-end trim. Once few final touches like pouring the parking lot are complete, Weaver will be ready to move in.
His law offices will occupy about 6,000 square feet, leaving half the building open for lease to either one or two companies. Once tenants are found, it would take about 45 days to customize the space to their needs, Weaver said.
The TAD funds will be reimbursed once Weaver receives an occupancy permit for the building.
TAD money is allocated mainly for exterior improvements such as sidewalks, landscaping and lighting.
The next TAD project will be the pedestrian bridge over Jesse Jewell Parkway.
The Weaver building is the first of many redevelopment projects to come, Evans said, which over time will begin to change the look of midtown.
"This kind of project and kind of redevelopment is why the midtown tax allocation district was created," he said. "... This isn't about local governments creating something new. It's about making it more easy for private sector investors to invest their money and play a role in redevelopment, site by site."