Little Rock CO talks about housing blunder

[unhappycamper]

Little Rock CO talks about housing blunder
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 31, 2007 18:45:39 EDT

Airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., used a town hall meeting Monday to voice their displeasure with a failed privatized housing project that has left the base far short of the hundreds of modern houses airmen and their families were promised.

The project, being developed by American Eagle Communities, was supposed to have produced more than 150 new and 400 renovated homes by now. But so far, only 25 new and three renovated homes have been delivered, said Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, the base commander.

Schatz said he convened the town hall meeting to report progress in getting the project back on track by selling it to another developer and to address airmen’s questions and concerns.

“I think people were thankful to hear that their leadership here on base and at the Air Force was engaged and looking for a solution,” he said. “They see other bases that are doing well, so there’s some frustration that ... that they’re still in an 1,100-foot, 1950s ... home and they’ve got friends at other bases ... moving into nice new homes.”

The project’s collapse has left some airmen living in rundown 1950s-era housing for far longer than they expected, Schatz said. That has led to complaints about pest control and cooling problems in the older homes, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/10/airforce_little_rock_housing_071031/


uhc comment: American Eagle appears to be the privatized construction manager of choice on military bases. I couldn't find anything specific to American Eagle, but the industry as a whole donated about 4 to 1 repug --> http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.asp?Ind=C05&cycle=2006