Already in its fourth year, the Residential Community Initiative has produced more than 1,000 new homes on Fort Benning and facilitated in the renovation of more than 200 historic residences.
The initial development plan — a 10-year, $612 million project — calls for the replacement or renovation of nearly all existing family housing on post. By the end of the decade, Clark Pinnacle, the Bethesda, Md.-firm that was chosen to construct and manage the entire post housing inventory in a $858 million deal, will have razed a total of 2,110 sets of quarters, built 2,377 new homes and renovated more than 1,500 historic and non-historic homes on post and at Camp Merrill, home to the 5th Ranger Training Battalion in Dahlonega, Ga.
Clark Pinnacle is a joint venture between Clark Realty, a national real estate company, and Pinnacle, an international real estate investment management company. Clark Pinnacle focuses on developing, designing and managing communities for military families, according to its Web site.
As it currently stands, Clark is finishing the final phase of McGraw Village on Benning’s main post, beginning the final phase of Patton Village near Sand Hill and making progress on the Upatoi housing area near Fort Benning’s cemetery. In addition to these new residences, plans are under way to renovate the Indianhead neighborhood and build community centers there and in Custer Village.
“So, only being four years into the 10 years of the project, I think that we’re pretty well off for right now,” said Keith Lovejoy, Residential Community Initiative program manager and former garrison commander.
Despite the progress that’s been made, there are still many homes in neighborhoods around post that require major renovations. Lovejoy said he and Pinnacle, the company overseeing housing management, understand this need and are working toward a solution for soldiers and families who are concerned with inadequate housing and frustrated with the discrepancies between old and new living quarters.
“There is a have and have-not, and the important thing to understand is that not everybody can get new housing,” Lovejoy said. He said Army posts around the country are upgrading housing and soldiers who stay in the Army are likely to benefit from the renovations at some point.
Lon Sperry, investment manager with Pinnacle, said housing assignment is determined by rank and family size. The new homes being built in Patton and McGraw are for sergeants, staff sergeants and sergeants first class. A recent housing market analysis predicted an influx of non-commissioned officers to Fort Benning in the coming years, prompting a redesignation of accepted ranks for those homes from enlisted ranks E-1 (privates) through E-4 (corporals and specialists) to E-5 (sergeants) through E-8 (master sergeants and first sergeants), Lovejoy said.
“If you’re an E-1 through E-4 living in there now, you don’t have to move out or anything,” Lovejoy said.
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