'CRIME CITY': A NEW LOOK

Then: It was known as "Crime City," a three-story midtown apartment complex
that was the scene of daylight drug deals, shootings, murders and other
crimes. In the first three months of 1996, police were called 73 times to
Midtown Terrace, at 24th and Q streets.

Neighbors kept their children inside out of fear. Others got fed up and
moved out. Owner Robert Shee-Hong Yee was the first property owner to be
fined under the city's social nuisance law. In May 1996, he agreed to pay a
$5,000 fine, plus a $6,000 reimbursement to the city for its enforcement
costs.

Now: While the address remains the same, little else is recognizable at the
apartment building. It has new owners, a new name, a new decor and a new
type of tenant.

Jim Cress, his wife, Ann Schafer, and his brother, Jerome Cress, bought the
complex in October. Cress said he offered residents $300, plus their
deposit, to move out. Almost all took his offer.

Then the partners closed the place down and spent months -- and a
"considerable amount of money" -- ripping out carpets, laying ceramic tile,
installing new appliances and more. It was much like a modern-day
barn-raising, with numerous Cress family relatives investing or adding
elbow-grease to the effort.

When Cress tore down the Midtown Terrace sign, neighbors cheered, he said.

The building now has a new coat of teal and cream paint and a rich red
awning pronouncing its new name -- The Oxford -- chosen to evoke its
"English-garden theme," Cress said. A lion's head fountain spouts water in
the brick-floored entry way. The new owners -- who also own Sutter House
around the corner -- envision flowers blooming around the pool.Cress raised
the rents to $415 to $625 a month and began renting last month to "young
professionals and students." The renovation is due to be finished in three
weeks.

"It's kind of like buying an old Mercedes that's dirty and dented up but
it's really a beautiful car," said Cress.