The Sherman Hills Apartment complex - notorious for shootings, stabbings and drugs - is being sold to a New Jersey developer who will continue making promised upgrades, authorities said Thursday.

Treetop Development, of Teaneck, N.J., has a sale contract to become owner and property manager of the site, with an expected transfer date of April 1, according to a release from the office of U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic.

Cartwright, who is leading a task force to address problems at the violence-plagued complex, said in the release that Treetop Development is not affiliated with Park Mangement Inc., the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based owner of the complex. He issued the release after meeting with U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development officials.

"Nobody's uncorking any champagne bottles yet," Cartwright said. "Just changing the ownership is one facet. It's naive to say a one-dimensional fix is going to solve multi-dimensional problems."

The Sherman Hills task force will remain active and plans to meet in mid-April to talk about other ideas for the complex, such as after-school activities and a tenants association, Cartwright said.

The apartments will remain low-income housing with funding coming from HUD. In fact, that reliable revenue stream is a good reason someone would want to buy the property, Cartwright said.

The release also says Treetop has had success working with HUD in the past and that the task force has requested a meeting with its representatives.

Attempts to reach Park Management Inc. owners during the past months were almost always unsuccessful. A call Thursday to Treetop connected a reporter to Adam Mermelstein, a company principal.

Treetop specializes in turning around problem properties and through a sister business called Aspen Company, it has completed projects in Newark, N.J., Memphis, Tenn. and elsewhere, he said. The company has purchased other HUD complexes, according to media reports.

Mermelstein said his company learned about the Sherman Hills apartments through a broker marketing the property. He said he wanted to wait until the deal closed to name the price for the complex.

"We like large complexes. It's easier to do one large complex in one area than buy ten buildings in a larger geographic location. It's much easier to gain control," Mermelstein said. "We do affordable housing. That's our business plan. We try to take mismanaged or tired properties and try to breathe new life into them."

One condition in the contract transfer was the completion of promised security measures at the property. Mermelstein said his company definitely plans on adding security features, such as installing more cameras and gating the complex.

The "absolutely critical" part of a turnaround is a strong manager, he said.

"If the owner invests money in the property, the tenants see that, and they care. That's not going to happen overnight. We have to educate the tenants that the owner and tenants are kin. Together, we can collectively make it a better place," Mermelstein said.

Andrew D. Bigda, a Forty Fort attorney who represents Sherman Hills ownership, said he was not aware of the pending sale and that he didn't have an immediate comment.

The Citizens' Voice first reported last month that Park Management was considering selling Sherman Hills, which in the past year has been host to a homicide and the shooting of two young girls.

HUD officials inspected the property in September, finding "possible life-threatening security issues" due to management's neglect of the 344-unit facility.

Sherman Hills officials said they set aside $100,000 to fund improvements to the property, including establishing a gated community surrounded by a fence, hiring armed guards to work a security booth on North Empire Court and to patrol the compound, and to repair broken security cameras.

City officials have approved those plans, and Cartwright said in the release that terms of the sale require Treetop Development to continue making those repairs and bring the facility up to code.

"I am encouraged by the prospect of new ownership at Sherman Hills, and I am confident the strong security conditions being imposed by HUD, at the behest of Congressman Cartwright and the Sherman Hills Task Force, will produce a more secure housing complex and ultimately, a safer Wilkes-Barre," task force member state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said in a statement.

Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said in the release that the sale is the result of months of collaboration between city officials, HUD and the Sherman Hills Task Force, which was formed in response to HUD's inspection report to help initiate change.

"We welcome any property owner into our city that shares our vision for safe and affordable housing in our neighborhoods," Leighton said. "We will remain vigilant with enforcement of city inspections and monitor the implementation of the security plan endorsed by Wilkes-Barre City Council and the Planning Commission in the coming months."

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2058, @cvjimhalpin

bwellock@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2051, @CVBillW