But take a turn around the corner and you see two of its other sides.
"It looks like a, looks like a prison," Raleigh resident Rob Saunders told Eyewitness News.
"It's an ugly, gray, cinder block, no aesthetic appeal at all," parking deck customer Dianne Reid said.
One county official even compared it to Cold War era eastern European architecture. But it's not supposed to be a permanent look. Plans call for a beautiful mixed use building to be built on the grass. However, the plans are stalled.
The project should be under construction now, but Monday the county granted the developer an extension.
According to the developer, a credit crunch has changed his lender's terms and he hasn't been able to secure financing. Now, he won't have to break ground until November 2010.
"Since I guess you know Raleigh is supposed to pave the way for the other parts of the state, I would hate that other visitors who are coming to use the convention center and other places around here are having to come here," Saunders said.
Customer Michelle Edelen said, "It's gonna look kinda odd until something else is done."
And that's going to be for quite some time, about one year and five months to be exact.
