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Fort McCoy holds first privatized housing town hall

Photo By Tonya Townsell | Fort McCoy housing residents attend a privatized housing town hall meeting Aug. 9,...... read more read more

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

08.11.2023

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

Fort McCoy held its first privatized housing town hall event Aug. 9 at the installation in building 50 with several dozen affected housing residents in attendance.

At meeting were members of the housing partner agency Cadence Communities LLC as well as Fort McCoy Garrison command team and other related garrison agencies that support housing residents, such as the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works, Fort McCoy Installation Legal Office, and more.

In an announcement Aug. 1, the Army stated Cadence would be the new partner for Fort McCoy housing on South Post. In the article at https://www.army.mil/article/268784/army_to_begin_new_privatized_housing_project_in_miami_area, it states Cadence Communities LLC is providing housing to service members who live in the high-cost, congested areas in the vicinity of U.S. Southern Command, which is headquartered in Doral, Fla., near Miami, and they will also develop, operate and maintain existing military family housing at four other installations — including Fort McCoy, Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.; the Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass.; and Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif.

“Overall, 371 family housing units that are currently government-owned will be privatized,” the article states. “The total Cadence Communities MHPI project across the seven installations will include 481 family housing units and 60 unaccompanied housing units upon completion of the initial development. Cadence Communities LLC will bring private-sector resources and market-based incentives to provide quality, affordable residential communities that are sustainable over time.”

The town hall lasted approximately one hour, and residents were able to have questions answered by the five representatives of the housing partner who were in attendance as well as garrison personnel.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, in 1996, Congress provided the Department of Defense with authorities enabling it to obtain private-sector financing and management to repair, renovate, construct, and operate military housing. The DOD had since privatized about 99 percent of its domestic housing.

The housing in the South Post Housing area is relatively new, too. In the past two-plus decades, more than 150 new homes have been built in the area. Additionally, the residents have had some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the Army over the past several years.

The newest homes in the area, which many were completed between 2017 and 2020, have geothermal home energy systems. Geothermal home energy systems use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Though many areas of the United States, including Wisconsin, can experience seasonal temperature extremes such as high heat in the summer and sub-zero cold in the winter, the ground remains at a relatively constant temperature a few feet below the earth’s surface.

Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.

(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)