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By Bari Faye Siegel Photograph Courtesy TreeTop Development
PSEG employee Marc Lee moved out of Newark and into a shared space in New York City 18 months ago. He needed to save money and, quite frankly, the hardworking man, who spends all his “free” time pursuing a college degree, wanted a nicer place to live.
But then six months ago, Lee moved back to the same building he left. This time, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Thanks to the strategic foresight of TreeTop Development, Lee’s building had been purchased, rehabbed, and transformed into a place the Newark resident feels quite lucky to call home.
“The resurgence of Newark as a residential destination is well underway,” says Adam Mermelstein, a TreeTop partner. “There’s a significant need for quality rental apartments that serve both the luxury market and the city’s local middle-class residents. As a result, we are actively pursuing opportunities that will be valuable additions to our existing residential portfolio of sale and rental properties.”
TreeTop is committed to purchasing dilapidated residential properties in Newark, specifically on Mt. Prospect Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, and turning them into affordable housing that will compel people who work and study in the hub of Essex County to live there as well. In other words, the firm, according to partner Azi Mandel, wants to take what he calls “undervalued properties” and invest in them to bring them to market value.
“When we started out, we met with the Newark mayor’s office,” explains Mandel. “They said one of the biggest problems in Newark is that there is a ton of lower income housing, but the second people make a bit of money, they feel they have to leave Newark because there isn’t any middle income housing. We wanted to take on that market and we have been focusing on it ever since.”
Mike Meyers, director of Housing and Real Estate for Newark, says the city has a lot of housing stock built in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, and that reinvestment is sorely needed. He says he applauds companies like TreeTop who “specialize in providing high-quality attentive property management and much needed capital improvements to make sure the city has a range of housing choices.”
Mermelstein echoed Meyers, noting “TreeTop is trying to bring up the standard of living here to make it so people working class, blue-collar, and middle-income people—will want to come back to live in Newark.”
The company is also offering lower rent incentives to public sector employees to entice them to live where they work. Further, the developer said, living in Newark cuts down on commutation costs, a tangible financial incentive in this economy.
Lee says the cost savings, combined with the shorter commute to work, have really made a difference for him—his sense of security and his budget. “TreeTop is making a real effort to help revitalize the City of Newark,” he says. “It’s amazing to witness this and be a part of it. It’s a long time coming.”
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