The new owners of Carnegie Towers are keeping tight reins on the 10-story, federally subsidized high-rise on Capitol Drive -- and it shows.

"It appears they have the best interests of the towers [at heart]," council president Mike Sarsfield said Nov. 9 after he and councilman Pat Catena met with the new owners.

They are Isidore Bleier and Mathias Deutsch, longtime partners from Lakewood, N. J., who formed Carnegie Towers Holdings LP in purchasing the 176-unit building in September for $700,200.

As required by a security provision rider that accompanied their sales agreement with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the new owners are installing surveillance equipment, including nearly 150 video cameras, and doing criminal and background checks on all residents.

Because of the checks, about 25 residents have been evicted, Mr. Bleier said Monday.

He was in town to supervise the ongoing improvements to the building -- at one point taking a call to order that a plumber may be needed for a failing boiler.

Although he and Mr. Deutsch are retaining Edgewood Management as the building's management company, they have brought in their own cleaning and repair crews to work in the building.

"No one wants to live in a place that's not safe," he said.

This hands-on approach is paying off, both in improving the climate of the housing facility as well as elevating the morale of local officials.

"We walked the premises and found a much improved housing area," Mr. Sarsfield said.

He was backed in his remarks by Dan Morgado, a 24-year Carnegie Towers resident, who said, "It's like a different place altogether. The people who own it are professionals. The crooks and bad guys have all been kicked out."

Mr. Morgado said he has never seen the building in such good shape since he has lived there. He specifically mentioned that access is now limited to the front entrance and that three armed guards patrol the site.

Council Vice President Pat Catena, too, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the future of the building.

"I'm very happy about this. The building is a lot different than it was a few months ago," he said. "I really do feel we're starting to head in the right direction."

Police Chief Jeffrey Harbin, too, said he is "encouraged" by the recent changes at Carnegie Towers and liked the owners' experience.

Though Mr. Bleier said Carnegie Towers is the first HUD property that he and Mr. Deutsch have owned, he was firm in his anti-drug stance and insistence on proper behavior. He plans to send out a letter of building "laws" soon to each resident.

Still, he reminded residents and officials to give him and Mr. Deutsch time to make changes.

"I'm the new guy on the block. Give me a chance," he said, adding that he keeps his phone by his bed every night.

Carnegie Towers was built in the early 1970s by Carnegie Associates of Maryland. The company defaulted on its mortgage payments in 2008 and building went up for auction sale in March. The first two buyers were subsequently disqualified by HUD, but the second one sold his rights to the property to Mr. Bleier and Mr. Deutsch.

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