Construction Maison

Local investors beware: Central Pennsylvania is on the map for outside groups looking for higher returns. Last month, The Solomon Organization , a New Jersey-based operator of multifamily properties, closed on a $25.7 million purchase of the newly built Ivy Ridge Apartments in Swatara Township . That price — $117,913 per unit — is the highest in the Harrisburg market this year. It also marked the company's first foray into the Harrisburg area after landing in Lancaster County six years ago. It owns six communities in Lancaster County and more than 1,200 units. "Two years ago, you said 'Harrisburg' and people would just hang up the phone," said Zachary Pierce, director of the National Multi Housing Group in Philadelphia for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services . Outside investors were interested only in primary markets such as New York City and Washington, D.C., and maybe Philadelphia, he said. But as prices have shot up in those prime areas, th...

WEST DEPTFORD TWP. – Chronic roof leaks and at least one ceiling collapse have led township officials to revoke three certificates of occupancy at the Forest Creek apartment complex . Residents of the second floor of the apartment complex near Jessup Road have, since last November in some cases, been complaining of regular leaks in their ceiling. Tisa Davenport was in her sixth year living at Forest Creek when a new leak spouted last January. “It was a regular thing, and it’s like you just know the routine at that point,” said Davenport, 33. “The response from management has always been you poke a hole in the ceiling, you get a bucket and you wait for roof repair. But I had three leaks this year and on Feb. 10 or 11, my ceiling collapsed.” Looking into the crater in her ceiling, Davenport reported seeing mold. Her apartment and two others have been deemed uninhabitable, following inspections from West Deptford code enforcement official Mark Hallahan . “It’s the smell of it that rea...

Regeni was undeterred. Proficient in five languages, he was insatiably curious and exuded a low-intensity charm that attracted a wide circle of friends. From 12 to 14, he served as youth mayor of his hometown, Fiumicello. He prided himself on his ability to navigate different cultures, and he relished Cairo ’s unruly street life : the smoky cafes, the endless hustle, the candy- colored party boats that plied the Nile at night. He registered as a visiting scholar at American University in Cairo and found a room in Dokki, a traffic-choked neighborhood between the Pyramids and the Nile, where he shared an apartment with two young professionals : Juliane Schoki, who taught German, and Mohamed El Sayad , a lawyer at one of Cairo’s oldest law firms . Dokki was an unfashionable address, but it was just two subway stops from downtown Cairo with its maze of cheap hotels, dive bars and crumbling apartment blocks encircling Tahrir Square . Regeni soon befriended writers and artists and practi...