The Farmers block of the development is due to be completed this afternoon and a small ceremony will be held from 4pm to celebrate the milestone.
After previously slamming the development, Dunedin City councillor and George St retailer Brent Weatherall yesterday said he was pleased with how it looked.
"It’s a vast improvement on what was there before. It looks good, doesn’t it?," he said.
He was happy the work outside his store was ending, but doubted the 10kmh speed limit would work in the area.
"[I’m] very pleased we’ve come to this stage. The dust was like nothing else, but time will tell about the functionality of it."
Cr Weatherall was one of the development’s most vocal critics, putting up a sign banning then-mayor Aaron Hawkins from his store and saying the dust, noise and disruptions were damaging his business.
Further down the block, Anime House Dunedin store manager Elliot McCleery was excited for people to use the new space.
"It looks great, looks awesome and I’m excited for it," Ms McCleery said.
She thought the new street design would draw customers and tourists to the area.
"Once it’s all opened up there will be people all over the place - it’s fantastic."
Xplosive Supplements NZ Dunedin store manager Joshua Sprague said the new design had already drawn more people to the street.
He was happy vehicles would still have access to the street, and service vehicles would be able to make deliveries.
"It looks great, and I’m glad there’s parking," he said.
A council spokesman said the next stage of work would begin later this month in the Knox block of George St, between Frederick St and Albany St.
The start date had been moved forward from January following requests from businesses in the area.
Updated plans for the Knox block were not yet available.
