On-Hold Housing Projects Sold To New Company
November 7, 2008
On-hold housing projects sold to new company
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 14:04:16 EST
HP Communities LLC has assumed control of 3,689 military family housing units at four troubled privatized projects at Hanscom, Little Rock, Moody and Patrick Air Force bases.
Construction is scheduled to begin in April, and the first new homes for military families are expected to be ready by April 2010.
HP Communities is made up of two companies familiar to military families — Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle AMS Development Co. LLC of Seattle. Both are heavily involved in privatized housing at other military bases, including joint projects at seven other Air Force and Army housing projects: Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Scott Air Force Base, Ill.; Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Langley Air Force Base and Fort Lee, Va.; and Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
The new four-into-one project involves developing and building 315 new homes and renovating 1,837 homes. HP Communities will also finish 148 homes that were 70 percent to 95 percent complete during the initial development phase of the previous owner, American Eagle, which had stopped construction at Moody, Hanscom and Little Rock. In addition, 317 homes will remain as they are. In the end, there will be a total of 2,617 homes at the four bases.
The initial phase of the project will cost $243 million.
American Eagle had completed 163 houses at Patrick, and families are living in them. The new deal includes an additional 524 family houses in the North and Central housing areas at Patrick that previously were not privatized. All housing at Patrick will be privatized, said Lt. Karl Wiest, a spokesman at the 45th Space Wing.
“Getting these Air Force projects back on track has been of utmost importance to the Air Force,” said Kathleen Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations. “Resolution of the four American Eagle projects has been a difficult task and has taken almost two years of work between all the parties involved.”
The Army and Navy each had a privatization project owned by American Eagle. The Navy’s project in the Northwest region, including Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., was the first sold, in November 2007 to Forest City Military Communities.
The Army project at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., was sold last summer to Balfour Beatty. The company is assessing the project and will revamp the plan, said Ivan Bolden, the Army’s chief of public-private initiatives.
“We expect the same quality of houses at Fort Leonard Wood that Balfour Beatty provided us at our other projects,” Bolden said. “We expect it to be transparent for residents.”
Shaw Infrastructure Inc. and Carabetta, a construction company, formed the American Eagle partnership for military privatized housing projects. Air Force officials, through their quarterly assessments, had identified problems with American Eagle’s projects more than two years ago, within months after the closing process, but were unable to resolve those issues.
The Air Force made changes to address its oversight procedures two years ago to keep a similar situation from happening again. The service now has the right to engage directly with the lender in Air Force projects; because its deals are private transactions between developers and lenders, the service previously did not have that right.
The Air Force is not a partner in the new single deal for the four projects, unlike the Army and the Navy. Those services are limited-liability partners in their privatization deals, which gives them more control. The Air Force determines whether it needs to be a partner on a case-by-case basis.
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 14:04:16 EST
HP Communities LLC has assumed control of 3,689 military family housing units at four troubled privatized projects at Hanscom, Little Rock, Moody and Patrick Air Force bases.
Construction is scheduled to begin in April, and the first new homes for military families are expected to be ready by April 2010.
HP Communities is made up of two companies familiar to military families — Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle AMS Development Co. LLC of Seattle. Both are heavily involved in privatized housing at other military bases, including joint projects at seven other Air Force and Army housing projects: Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Scott Air Force Base, Ill.; Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Langley Air Force Base and Fort Lee, Va.; and Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
The new four-into-one project involves developing and building 315 new homes and renovating 1,837 homes. HP Communities will also finish 148 homes that were 70 percent to 95 percent complete during the initial development phase of the previous owner, American Eagle, which had stopped construction at Moody, Hanscom and Little Rock. In addition, 317 homes will remain as they are. In the end, there will be a total of 2,617 homes at the four bases.
The initial phase of the project will cost $243 million.
American Eagle had completed 163 houses at Patrick, and families are living in them. The new deal includes an additional 524 family houses in the North and Central housing areas at Patrick that previously were not privatized. All housing at Patrick will be privatized, said Lt. Karl Wiest, a spokesman at the 45th Space Wing.
“Getting these Air Force projects back on track has been of utmost importance to the Air Force,” said Kathleen Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations. “Resolution of the four American Eagle projects has been a difficult task and has taken almost two years of work between all the parties involved.”
The Army and Navy each had a privatization project owned by American Eagle. The Navy’s project in the Northwest region, including Naval Base Kitsap, Wash., was the first sold, in November 2007 to Forest City Military Communities.
The Army project at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., was sold last summer to Balfour Beatty. The company is assessing the project and will revamp the plan, said Ivan Bolden, the Army’s chief of public-private initiatives.
“We expect the same quality of houses at Fort Leonard Wood that Balfour Beatty provided us at our other projects,” Bolden said. “We expect it to be transparent for residents.”
Shaw Infrastructure Inc. and Carabetta, a construction company, formed the American Eagle partnership for military privatized housing projects. Air Force officials, through their quarterly assessments, had identified problems with American Eagle’s projects more than two years ago, within months after the closing process, but were unable to resolve those issues.
The Air Force made changes to address its oversight procedures two years ago to keep a similar situation from happening again. The service now has the right to engage directly with the lender in Air Force projects; because its deals are private transactions between developers and lenders, the service previously did not have that right.
The Air Force is not a partner in the new single deal for the four projects, unlike the Army and the Navy. Those services are limited-liability partners in their privatization deals, which gives them more control. The Air Force determines whether it needs to be a partner on a case-by-case basis.