Ground broken for military homes
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Gone will be the 18-hole golf course, built in the 1920s, used as a supplementary airstrip in World War II, and rated as the second best military course in the nation.
U.S. Army and Actus Lend Lease
But junior enlisted soldiers and their families at Schofield Barracks will gain something far more valuable — at least to a non-golf way of thinking: new three-bedroom homes with living room ceilings two stories high, as much as 40 percent more living space, and lanais that overlook green spaces, not streets.
This is what a Schofield junior enlisted duplex will look like. It's part of the Army's $1.6 billion family housing privatization project on O'ahu.
The ironwood- and palm-lined Kalakaua Golf Course will see its last rounds on Dec. 31 as the Army and Actus Lend Lease begin to pave the way for dramatic housing changes at Schofield and six other Army installations.
Ground was broken yesterday at Schofield for the 10-year military family housing privatization project that will include the construction of more than 4,050 homes, renovations to more than 3,400 existing residences, and repairs to 386 historical homes.
The $1.7 billion contract, which could rise to $6.9 billion over 50 years with maintenance and management of the Army housing, represents the largest military family housing privatization project in the United States and will affect thousands of Hawai'i families as well as workers vying for subcontracting jobs.
Even though actual construction isn't expected to begin until summer of next year, $10 million to $15 million in business already has been contracted out for housing operations and maintenance with Actus taking over those duties in October.
"That's 100 percent local. Hawai'i businesses," said Ryan Mielke, a spokesman for Actus.
• The Army's $1.7 billion family housing privatization project on O'ahu with Actus Lend Lease is the largest in the Department of Defense. • Construction will start next year, probably in summer. Homes at Schofield and Aliamanu Military Reservation will be built or renovated first and allotted in twos or threes when they are ready. • The project will involve Schofield Barracks, Aliamanu Military Reservation, Fort Shafter, Wheeler Army Airfield, Helemano Military Reservation, Tripler Army Medical Center; homes for 100 Marine Corps personnel at Aliamanu, and 300 Coast Guard houses at Kia'i Kai Hale. • The Army's family housing privatization includes 45 installations, equating to more than 84,000 housing units, or 92 percent of the Army family housing inventory. The Hawai'i project represents nearly 10 percent of that total. • Family homes will have at least three bedrooms and most will have living room ceilings two stories high. Junior enlisted homes will be between 1,600 and 1,700 square feet. Source: U.S. Army and Actus Lend Lease
Officials yesterday spoke of the major scope and uniqueness of the project and the privatization approach, through which the military enters into public-private partnerships to manage, construct, renovate and operate family housing.
At a glance
Geoffrey Prosch, assistant secretary of the Army for installations and environment, said more than 2,000 new homes have been constructed at four installations in Colorado, Texas, Washington and Maryland — more than 2 1/2 times the number of homes built using traditional financial sources over 20 years, and in less than a quarter of the time.
"We cannot support the United States military as a whole, and in this instance, the Army in particular, with respect to families and soldiers ... with the kind of system we had previously," said U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i. "... We had to find another way to do it."
Among the 11 individuals to take part in the groundbreaking was Cpl. Clinton Davis, 23, a
1st Battalion, 27th Infantry "Wolf-hound" who was shot three times in Iraq on April 7 and had to undergo 13 surgical operations to rebuild a shattered lower left leg.
Davis had in mind the greater comfort new housing will bring to soldiers.
"I'm pretty honored to do it (the groundbreaking)," he said. "I was able to represent our future soldiers and future NCOs."
The other services in Hawai'i also have initiated family housing privatization, and $10 billion worth of work is expected on Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard homes.
The Army installations that will see the housing projects include Schofield, Wheeler Army Airfield, Aliamanu Military Reservation, Tripler Army Medical Center, Fort Shafter, Helemano Military Reservation and Kia'i Kai Hale.
Approximately 700 1940s and 1950s homes at Schofield will be the first to be demolished. Harry Jackson, vice president and asset manager for Napa, Calif.-based Actus Lend Lease, said every effort will be made to save mature trees like those on the golf course, which is needed in part for new utilities, and to maintain the integrity of historical homes.
"We worked hand in hand with the (State Historic Preservation Office) on the renovations," Jackson said. "Whatever work we do on the historic homes, they have very clear guidelines on what we do."
Col. Howard Killian, commander of U.S. Army Garrison, Hawai'i, said 64 percent of Hawai'i housing doesn't meet Army standards for habitability.
"So I think this is an extraordinary time," he said.
It also will be a very busy time for Schofield, with plans for a fast-response Stryker Brigade, new barracks projects, a reorganization putting more emphasis on brigades rather than a full division, and a new $27 million shopping center.
"We've got an enormous amount of change going across about everything that we put our hands on," Killian said.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
