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For the Bachelors on Post

Watertown Daily Times  Sunday, September 28, 2008  By Sarah Rivette

Single and unaccompanied, senior enlisted soldiers and officers soon will have a new on-post housing option. The Timbers, four apartment buildings developed by Actus Lend Lease and managed by Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes, will be at least partially finished by early next year.

"There never has been any place for our bachelors to live on Fort Drum," said Joseph E. McLaughlin, the Actus Lend Lease project manager for the Timbers and longtime member of the Association of the United States Army and Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization. "There are between 400 and 1,000 single soldiers who are not married and need a place to live. They are currently renting in downtown Watertown. Now they can be closer."

The project is on south post, close to the residential communities, a gymnasium and the on-post restaurant and brewery Buster's Brew Pub. The theme is that of an Adirondack lodge, with rustic, exposed wooden beams on the facade and in the interior hallways.

The Timbers will have 192 units, composed of 64 one-bedroom apartments and 128 two-bedroom apartments. The apartments will use market rate pricing, which soldiers pay for with their basic allowance for housing.

"In the configuration, with the two bedrooms, we totally anticipate some bunking up," said Kris J. Carr, the development manager. "That way the soldier can put some of that BAH into their pockets."

Developers hope to build a clubhouse in the same area where single and unaccompanied soldiers can come together in larger groups. The idea behind the Timbers is to create a connection among the senior enlisted soldiers and officers that can be lost when they move off post.

Ground was broken on the four buildings in April and construction has moved along steadily, as the developers and contractors have had to adjust to a learning curve. The buildings, because they are four stories tall, must be built using a progressive collapse system. This allows for a slower collapse if the building were to be damaged substantially. This is the first kind of construction on post under Actus Lend Lease that has had to follow the progressive collapse guidelines.

"We are learning how to do that and keep production going," said Scott R. Call, the senior construction manager. "The way the sequence is set up, where this building is at this stage so as soon as that's done the next building is entering that stage, there can be no delay."

The $30 million project represents a pilot program within the Military Housing Privatization Initiative and is the first of its kind to offer a housing alternative for single soldiers. Mr. Carr said the Army is watching the project closely and will monitor the response from soldiers to see if it is something that should be developed on other installations.

Of the $30 million, $16.5 million is being spent with the Watertown construction company Bette & Cring. A total of $3 million was spent on infrastructure — parking lots and sewer and water lines — completed by Delaney Group, Gloversville. The remaining $10.5 million is considered soft cost and will be used in the final transfer of the structures from Actus Lend Lease to the Army and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes, which manages the property.

Mr. Call and Mr. McLaughlin said they believe the first building, with 48 units, will be ready for occupancy by late February or early March.

"There hasn't been any real apartment buildings in Watertown for 20 years," Mr. McLaughlin said. "This is what this project really is, apartments for soldiers."

 

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