The day before, Rep. Abercrombie was at Ford Island to participate in a similar groundbreaking for a U.S. Navy housing project, which will generate 2,524 housing units in 20 Navy neighborhoods on Oahu and Kauai.  Phase II will provide 826 new homes for Navy families, including 231 on Ford Island.  Forest City Military Communities is also the private sector partner for the Navy project.

The Military Housing Privatization Initiative, Title XXVIII, Subtitle A of the National Defense Authorization Act, was co-authored by Abercrombie and enacted by Congress in 1996.  Since then, it has provided the means for thousands of units of family housing to be upgraded, refurbished and new family housing constructed on Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine bases across the country much more quickly than in previous years.  Rather than waiting for annual appropriations for funding, which limits the number of homes that can be renovated or built each year, the housing initiative authorizes the military services to enter into agreements with private developers selected in a competitive process to build, refurbish, maintain and manage family housing through long-term leases.

The initiative has also paid off for local economies because the private sector partners subcontract with local businesses for the construction work, providing good jobs for local residents.  The Navy project is using more than 80 Hawaii-based companies during construction; the Kaneohe project will involve more than 30.

In addition to Kaneohe and Pearl Harbor/Ford Island, the public-private partnerships have built and renovated family housing at Hickam Air Force Base, Fort Shafter and Schofield Barracks. 

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