On Feb. 2 Forest City Military Communities Northwest, the Navy’s Public Private Venture (PPV) housing partner, launched its building program that will make 141 new homes available to Sailors assigned to NAVSTA Everett. The housing development, called Greenwood Village, is located in the City of Lake Stevens, about 10 miles east of the waterfront base.

As of April 1, 53 homes were under construction. The project is well ahead of schedule and if everything goes according to plan the first 66 homes should be available by the end of August.

“The pace of construction is rapid,” said Michael Nanney, vice president of Forest City. “Our construction contractors are doing a great job, and it helps that with the current real estate market we are really the only game in town.”

The housing is designed to replace current military housing at Ft Lawton in Seattle. Military families at Ft Lawton will have the first opportunity to move to the new location in Lake Stevens. 

“Our intent is to move families with school-age children first,” said Shirley Schmidt, housing director at NAVSTA Everett.  “As we get closer to the event we’ll have a better idea of the details, but this will involve mostly enlisted Sailors with a few junior officers as well.”

This housing is a significant improvement over the small 1950s-style Capehart homes in Seattle. Lower grade enlisted Sailors can expect to enjoy around 1,750 square feet of living space in new, state-of-the-art structures in both three and four bedroom configurations. Additionally, the approximately one-hour commute from Ft Lawton to NAVSTA will be significantly shortened.

PPV for military housing came into existence with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996. Section 2801 of this act provides a series of authorities that allow the Navy and other military services to enter into long-term agreements with private industry to design, finance, construct, own, operate, maintain and professionally manage PPVs. 

The PPV approach allows the military services to bypass the often lengthy congressionally-funded military construction (MILCON) process, and leverage funding through the private sector.

The basic concept of PPV is the formation of a limited liability company (LLC) between the Department of the Navy and a private company. The private company secures the necessary financing and is responsible for the replacement, renovation, maintenance, management and operation of the conveyed family housing.

The Navy maintains a vested interest in ensuring that quality housing is available to service members and that the housing is fully sustained for the life of the 50-year agreement. Under the PPV, the service member signs a lease and makes monthly rent payments to the LLC using the service member’s Basic Allowance for Housing entitlement, which typically covers rent, utilities and renter’s insurance.

“PPV has given us the opportunity to greatly upgrade the quality of life for our Sailors and their families,” said Schmidt. “Our people can enjoy the level of housing most middle-class Americans virtually take for granted.”

Quality of life improvements at NAVSTA Everett are not stopping with family housing. A new bachelor enlisted quarters for about 500 people has been constructed on the waterfront base and will be dedicated and ready for use by the end of this month.  This barracks is part of the CNO’s homeport ashore initiative, which is designed to move single Sailors off their ships while in port.

Ground was recently broken for the construction of a new training facility which will allow more training to be conducted at NAVSTA Everett, decreasing the amount of time Sailors will need to spend away from their families.  The facility is scheduled for completion in March 2010.