Posts Tagged ‘defense real estate’

The federal government lacks reliable data on the number of excess properties it owns, calling into question the White House’s effort to achieve $3 billion in savings by the end of fiscal 2012, concluded a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The congressional watchdog agency found that data maintained by the Federal Real Property Council — including buildings’ utilization, condition, operating costs and value — is not always accurate and consistent. Some federal efforts to better manage excess properties have been discontinued, with the potential savings achieved unclear …

Plans by the Army’s privatization partner to build a new hotel at Fort Drum, N.Y., would hurt existing hotels in the area surrounding Watertown, N.Y., which already has witnessed the construction of eight hotels in the past six years, according to some members of the local hospitality industry. Developer Patrick Donegan has asked the Watertown City Council to oppose the project because the local market already is saturated. The region’s occupancy rate is between 50 and 60 percent, he said …

Lend Lease (U.S.) Public Partnerships has closed on the second phase of the Privatization of Army Lodging program and secured $275 million in project debt, the international property and infrastructure group announced Wednesday. The project’s second phase calls for renovating and developing rooms at lodging facilities at 11 posts. InterContinental Hotels Group operates the PAL hotels under the IHG Army Hotels name. The program now covers 8,200 hotel rooms at 21 installations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico …

The federal government is on pace to exceed President Obama’s goal to save $8 billion in real estate costs this year, the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday. In an effort to eliminate wasteful spending on federal real estate, agencies already have saved more than $5.6 billion during fiscal 2012, but $3.3 billion of that stems from previous BRAC recommendations, according to a blog post from Controller Danny Werfel …

Atlantic Marine Corps Communities, a partnership between the Navy and Lend Lease, has finished building the Marine Corps’ first net zero energy home at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. The home’s design focuses on energy efficiency and solar energy production. The dwelling functions on 54 percent less energy than a comparable home. A 6.7-kilowatt, rooftop photovoltaic array powers the home. Water consumption is projected to drop 27 percent …

Hunt Development, the developer of privatized family housing at Scott Air Force Base, is fighting efforts by the Illinois General Assembly to make the El Paso-based firm responsible for annual property taxes. “We have two big issues with what the state legislature is considering,” Hunt Development Executive Vice President Robin Vaughn told the Belleville News-Democrat. “The Illinois Department of Revenue has concluded that the project is a license through a government agency and that it’s not taxable …

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday rejected the House plan to replace the first year’s portion of the automatic spending cuts with a package of reductions in domestic programs, saying a “balanced approach” that includes tax revenue is needed to avert the budget sequester. The leverage provided by the threat of government-wide spending cuts is needed if the two parties are to reach a deal before the end of the year on taxes and deficit reduction, Reid said …

WinnResidential Military Housing Services, the property management partner of Lend Lease (U.S.) Public Partnerships, has received the 2011 superior satisfaction company award for superior performance in a nationally recognized resident satisfaction program. WinnResidential received a superior rating with an overall score of 4.25 out of 5.0 in six primary categories — pre renewal, move in, work (service) order, move out, wait list, and point of service — from SatisFacts Insite® …

Housing officials at Patrick AFB have succeeded in filling most of the base’s vacant homes after opening the units to military retirees and the general public. Currently 94 percent of the homes at the installation located on Florida’s Space Coast are occupied, with 38 percent of the units occupied by retirees, reports Florida Today. At one point, 230 out of 453 homes were vacant, primarily due to the depressed real estate market and economy, and the loss of two Air Force units. The Air Force agreed to the request of Hunt Military Communities, which owns and manages the Patrick housing, to rent the homes to non-active-duty personnel and civilians. There are only 9 units occupied by the general public, a number that likely won’t climb much higher as the base housing will be closed to civilians once occupancy reaches 95 percent.

Because of multiple challenges over the past six years in moving forward with redevelopment of the Broadway Complex, the Navy should consider moving its headquarters facility elsewhere in the San Diego metropolitan area, according to report language accompanying the House version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill. The Navy reached an agreement with a local developer in 2006 to build it new offices in exchange for a 99-year lease to develop the waterfront property, meeting a deadline imposed by the 2005 BRAC Commission for avoiding closure of the site …