Outsiders make cities great, says international urban development guru Sir Peter Hall in his landmark book Cities in Civilization. Jo'burg is no different.

The young men behind the conversion of the CBD's Corner House, Alfonso Botha and Duan Coetzee, are from the Karoo. Peter Still, the developer of 77 Harrison Street, is a New Zealander; his wife, Justine, the daughter of Irish business tycoon Tony O'Reilly. And it is a Kenyan businessman, Moos Baba, who is believed to have bought Sanlam Centre and His Majesty's Building.

Botha and Coetzee did not just drift into town. They have developed a sophisticated strategy since they first agreed two years ago that the time was ripe to hit Jo'burg.

Coetzee (40), who comes from De Aar, is CEO of Admakers, a Cape Town agency that started taking equity in its clients' property developments some years ago. He promotes projects in places from the Cape West Coast to the Caribbean and Egypt. Fauresmith-born Botha (35) develops affordable housing in Jo'burg and has offices in the city centre.

They want to turn Jo'burg quickly and systematically into the prime choice for city living in SA - and, with it, the centre of urban activity and commerce on the African continent. They believe the city's priceless treasure trove of history, architecture and infrastructure will make their dream easy to achieve.

"The key is to start with landmark developments, of which Corner House will be the pinnacle," says Coetzee. "And the strategy will stand or fall on attention to detail."

That is why the Jo'burg inner city task team's decision to get infrastructure right is so important. If everything works as it should in a modern city, "we only have to get things half right to succeed", says Botha.

The Stills have chosen 77 Harrison because it is between two developing city nodes, Newtown and the financial district. "The two will eventually grow together," says Still (38), who forms private syndicates for developments in and out of the city that are held as investments.

"The Harrison Street development will provide the yield sweetener for the prime developments in the suburbs," he says. "It's still a bit of a gamble investing in Jo'burg, but I'm convinced it will take off."

Financial Mail