Picerne Military Housing, of Warwick, developed this home and many others at Fort Meade, Md. - similar to what the company will build at Fort Rucker, Ala.
A 50-year privatization contract with U.S. Army
During the next 50 years, Picerne Military Housing, a division of Warwick-based Picerne Real Estate Group, will be developing and redeveloping privatized military family housing at Fort Rucker, Ala., the developer’s fourth Army housing contract. Picerne has partnered with the Army to privatize 1,476 military homes at the base.
Picerne began developing military housing in 2001, and has obtained contracts each year since then, according to Chris Bicho, chief financial officer of Picerne Military Housing. The company was also awarded privatization contracts for Fort Meade, Md., in 2001; Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2002; and Fort Polk, La., in 2003.
The government has been privatizing its military housing since 1996, when Congress passed legislation allowing the Armed Forces to partner with or hire private developers and builders to oversee housing development and maintenance. Military housing had not been maintained over the years because of a lack of federal appropriations, so the privatization allows for developers to seek funding from private and other sources.
“We have access to capital versus using tax dollars,” Bicho said. “For the U.S. Army, that will solve an approximate $6 billion backlog that existed.” Picerne said it plans to invest $138 million initially in private funding and loans on the development, to replace and renovate the existing homes.
Construction on the housing will begin in April 2006, according to Bicho, and during the first almost six years of the contract, Picerne will first build 200 to 300 new homes, move the existing families into those homes and then move on to redeveloping the existing older homes on the base.
For the remaining 44 years of the contract, Picerne will be responsible for managing the homes, preparing them for new families once others move out, and for periodically updating them as families’ needs change.
“This housing was developed 30 or 40 years ago, and is usually last on the (government’s) priority list,” Bicho said. “Our military is good at its job, fighting wars, and we’re good at this,” so having private developers upgrade the housing keeps the military’s attention where it should be.
The Community Development and Management Plan Picerne and the Army will develop will outline the plans for the 50-year contract. Plans include a community center, with a pool and activities for families, Bicho said.
The company plans to submit its plan for Department of Defense and congressional approval in the next six months.
A similar project is in the works in Newport, where the Navy has more than 1,300 units of housing. GMH Military Housing LLC, based in Newtown Square, Pa., was granted a 50-year contract with the Navy, as a partnership, to build new homes, renovate existing homes and construct community facilities and services on bases from Maine to New Jersey.
According to the company, the $600 million contract calls for GMH to demolish 388 of the 1,351 Newport housing units in the first seven years, renovate 143 homes and build 232 new ones. The developer also plans to sell 300 homes in Middletown that the Navy does not need, and 20 in Portsmouth.
