Troubled Sherman Hills Apartment Complex To Be Sold

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — The same day that the response of the troubled Sherman Hills apartment complex to a federal inspection was released, news comes that the complex is about to be sold.

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, who founded a task force to address problems at the crime-ridden complex after two young girls were shot there last August, met Thursday with eight representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including Regional Director Jane Vincent, he said in a news release.

HUD officials revealed at the meeting that the property is under contract of sale with a transfer date target of April 1, Cartwright said.

The new owner, New Jersey-based Treetop Development, which has no overlapping ownership with the current owners, also will serve as property manager of the Sherman Hills property, Cartwright said, noting that Treetop has had success working with HUD in the past.

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Party Atmosphere Aids Painters Working To Brighten Reading Blocks

Replacing their button-down collars for T-shirts, employees of several local firms and organizations grabbed scrapers and paintbrushes and helped 20 families in the 6th Ward spruce up the facades of their homes Saturday.

It was part of Operation Facelift, run by Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks Inc. since 1989.

This year it focused on the 200 and 300 blocks of North Second Street and the 100 block of Elm Street.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=482280

$52 Million To Fix Worst Building Problems In Reading School District

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Years of neglect have left the Reading School District with a host of buildings in desperate need of repairs.

Upgrades are needed to heating systems, windows, fire safety systems, roofs and a number of other areas.

Reading has about $56 million available in bond funds for construction, and officials are in the process of figuring out how to spend it.

Michael Kautter of Kautter & Kelley Architects, who was hired to do a feasibility study, recently updated the school board on the status of the enormous project. In all, the feasibility study found nearly $83 million in needed repairs throughout the district.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=413023