Now many of the hoardings have come down, Cambridge Street and the £480m Heart of the City development have begun to truly take shape.
Newcomers to Sheffield might see the pedestrianised routes, the ceiling-to-floor glass-fronted shops, and the many new high-rise buildings - and not think of the journey it's taken to get here.
But not so long ago, Cambridge Street was home to a completely different set of shops, cafes and brutalist concrete buildings - nearly all of which were cleared away in 2017.
Even as the area is now home to the HSBC building, Marmaduke's, and newcomer Sostrene Green - and even as fancy new hotels, food halls and live music venues are only a year from completion - it's shocking to look back at old photos of Cambridge Street and see how far it's come.
Below, The Star has delved into its archives for photos of Cambridge Street in its heydey, before the bulldozers arrived.
To help bring them to life, we've done our best to take fresh photos while standing in the same spot as the old ones so they can truly be appreciated side by side.
Keep an eye out for long-gone businesses like Pepe's, Chubby's, Grosvenor House Hotel, and - yes - even the lights still on at Cole Brothers.
Keep these in mind as new projects like Leah's Yard, the Cambridge Street Collective and the Radisson Blu Hotel approach their completion date and think on how much Sheffield has changed in the past 20 years.
1. Side by side, 2005 and 2023
Side by side of the shop on the corner of Cambridge Street and Pinstone Street. Left is in 2005, right is during its ongoing redevelopment in 2023.
2. Corner of Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street, 2005
The corner of Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street in 2005. While the TY banner on the right may be the most time indicative proof of the era, this image was between developments before it opened as a MoneyStore, which also closed in 2008. In around 2011 it opened as a framing shop before that shut in 2017 for Heart of the City.
3. Corner of Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street, 2023
Corner of Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street. The renovations will bring it back into use for the first time in over seven years.
4. collage of cambridge street in 2000 and present day to show heart of the city development
A side by side of the view up Cambridge Street; left is modern day, and right is December 2000 with a is a glimpse of the former shop row of shops, which was demolished for renovated for the HSBC building and new shops.