McChord awaits housing proposals

[unhappycamper]

McChord awaits housing proposals
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 21, 2008 16:43:39 EDT

McChord Air Force Base, Wash., is moving toward a privatized housing deal that officials say will improve the quality of life for airmen and their families by providing modernized houses that are farther from a busy freeway and built on-site rather than prefabricated.

Final proposals for the project to provide 608 new and renovated houses on base will be submitted to base officials in early June. They expect to select a winning proposal and work out the planning and financial details by Sept. 1, said Col. Frank Rechner, commander of the base’s 62nd Mission Support Group.

Some newly renovated houses will be available shortly thereafter, Rechner said, with the rest becoming available over a six- or seven-year period.

This is McChord’s first privatized housing project, an arrangement under which a private developer builds and owns the properties and receives rent payments from airmen’s housing allowances. In return, officials say, the Air Force gets modernized base housing without investing money upfront.

But unlike most bases, McChord has opted to work through a company and development contract already being used by neighboring Fort Lewis for its privatized housing. The installations will become a joint base in the next two years.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/05/airforce_mcchord_052108w/