The 13th floor of the high-rise building is crowded with yuppies sipping colourful cocktails, eating chocolate truffles and taking in the magnificent view of the cityscape.

No, it's not New York City - but downtown Joburg.

The young, hip and unmistakably rich turned out in droves at The Franklinin Diagonal Street on Thursday night to ogle what seemed a pipe dream -true inner-city luxury living.

The old Ernst & Young building on the corner of Diagonal and Pritchardstreets is being renovated into luxury living quarters for the young andtrendy.

Apartments are selling at prices ranging from about R400 000 for a 61m²shell to R4-million for a penthouse.

With about 150 inner-city apartments already sold, developer Alfonso Botha and his team at Urban Ocean are realising their dreams - and those of their buyers - of turning old, run down buildings in dangerous areas into yuppie pads to drool over.

Within half an hour on Thursday night two penthouses worth R4-millioneach were sold at The Franklin.

One went to Sindeep Bhana, who also bought two smaller apartments in the building.

"I think it's the way to go. City living in Johannesburg is the wayof the future," said the 37-year-old endocrinologist.

For his R4-million, Bhana got a 500m² one-bedroomed flat completewith garden, pool, "huge" entertainment area - and a stunning view fromthe 19th floor.

"People were nervous about New York about 10 years ago, but if you goto New York now it's great. Joburg is going to be the buzzing city in Africa,"he said.

On Friday morning, after a launch party at The Franklin - touted as"opulent urban living" - Botha was still counting the sales from the previousevening.

"The penthouses went for R4-million, and that's brilliant - the riskis definitely paying off now," he said.

Having his own inner-city penthouse in the historic Corner House buildingon the corner of Commissioner and Simmonds streets, Botha said there wasno way he would move out of the city centre now.

"It's a completely different dynamic and there's nothing like it elsewherein Joburg - the city is coming along nicely."

Dr Adrian Brink, a microbiologist, bought a corner unit on the 11thfloor of The Franklin four months ago.

He paid R320 000 for just a shell, but the price has already gone upmore than R30 000.

Brink said he fell in love with the apartment the first time he sawit at sunset. "There is a golden hue over the highway - which you can'thear - and it's amazing. The view from those apartments is fantastic."

But that was not the only motivation for buying, said Brink. "Firstly,the city council is really making an effort to clean up the inner city.You have more faith when you see it cleaning up. Secondly, [some of thebuildings in downtown Joburg] are the most beautiful in South Africa -historical, modern or Art Deco buildings. And it's a good investment,"he said.

Sales and marketing co-ordinator Katy Essa said the investment was already turning huge profits. Apartments at Corner House which initially sold forbetween R300 000 and R400 000 were refurbished and sold for up to R1.4-million.

"What's fascinating is that the people buying are so young - it is theup-and-coming yuppie between the ages of 25 and 40," said Essa.

Of the seven buildings snapped up for development by Urban Ocean onlythree have been developed.

Of the apartments already sold, 80 were in The Franklin, 15 in CornerHouse and about 50 at No 1 Rissik Street, which was the old Penmore Gardens.

The developers see a cosmopolitan, frenetic buzz of apartment buildingswith sparkling lobbies, brass-buttoned doormen and pavement restaurants.

At The Franklin - although the concrete has barely dried - you can certainlysee it happening.