Usually the opening of a new building is a stuffy affair, with interminable speeches. Speeches there were aplenty at the opening of 1 Central Place, Newtown, but stuffy it certainly wasn't! It was a happy and vibey early-morning affair, with lots of music and an interesting cross section of city dudes and tourism-industry characters.

The tourism industry was there because the building's major tenant is the Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) and its move from Rosebank to the inner city is another strategic boost for the urban renewal process.

One of the major frustrations we "inner city folk" have had with the industry is that it has generally been actively negative towards the inner city. Visitors to South Africa arriving at the airport have had their media-induced fears of the area reinforced by dire warnings not to go downtown. This was - and I think still is - underpinned by the concierges at our northern suburbs hotels, who evidently recommend visits to anywhere provided the inner city is given a wide berth.

I have taken a number of overseas tourist and travel agents through the city who have admitted that they never realised just what an experience their clients had been missing.

However, over the past two years there definitely has been some positive change and part of the credit for this must go to the GTA and the Joburg Tourism Company. I have no doubt that with the premier provincial tourist agency now part of the inner city, this positive change in attitude will accelerate.

Number One Central Place will be on tourists' itineraries and this will expose them to an area of the city that is unrecognisable from a decade ago and where a vast amount of new investment is about to take place. The new building provides great facilities for the GTA, including a superb auditorium. I understand that the ground floor retail has all been let and that it will house a number of coffee shops and restaurants.

The building will also provide studio accommodation for Kaya FM. The strong lettings and great interest in what is in fact the first "greenfield" building in Newtown is indicative of the metamorphosis that the area has gone and is still going through.

Johannesburg News Agency