LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Air Force has selected Picerne Military Housing to privatize military family housing for Continental Group bases at Edwards AFB, Calif.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; Eielson AFB, Alaska; McConnell AFB, Kan.; Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.; and Hurlburt Field, Fla.
The deal, valued at a more than $545 million development cost, provides new and renovated housing for 4,188 military families.
The Air Force picked Picerne after a competitive solicitation process led by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment. This is Picerne's first Air Force housing privatization project. Picerne is a partner in the Army's residential communities initiatives at Fort Rucker, Ala.; Fort Polk, La.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade, Md.; and Fort Bragg, N.C.
Under the deal, the Air Force will lease approximately 2,425 acres of land as part of a 50-year transaction and convey 3,739 existing housing units and other improvements to Picerne. There will also be a delayed conveyance of an additional 368 units under construction at Eielson and Seymour Johnson. The project will provide approximately 1,535 new and 1,595 renovated homes to be completed in five years.
At closing, the houses become the property of Picerne Military Housing that will own and operate the rental housing development for military families, as well as finance, plan, design and construct improvements in the development that maintain at least 4,188 housing units for the 50-year lease period.
In 1996, Congress created the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, or MHPI, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The goal was to provide military members with quality homes faster than through military construction alone.
The Air Force has accomplished in 10 years through housing privatization what would have taken 25 years using traditional MILCON, while saving the taxpayer billions in the process, said Ian Smith, AFCEE's deputy division chief for housing privatization.
"The Air Force has privatized some 38,000 homes at 44 bases at a cost to the Air Force of $423million and brought in $6.5 billion in private funding to provide quality homes for our Airmen," Mr. Smith said.
In 2010, the Air Force and private sector project owners delivered an average of 520 new and renovated homes per month, as well as features like community centers, pools, sports courts, playgrounds and dog parks. These amenities help to provide the thriving housing communities military members and their families have come to appreciate, Mr. Smith said.
Visit https://www.afcec.af.mil/Home/Housing/Privatization/ for more information on Air Force housing privatization.