The US Air Force has begun the construction of its first commercial apartment complex for service members at Edwards AFB in California.
The site will incorporate 142 rooms with 246 beds to house soldiers deployed in the region as well as in other remote or isolated locations.
It will be available to E-4 Senior Airman and above as well as trainees at the Test Pilot School advanced flight competency program at Edwards.
The air force noted that the design and related costs for the infrastructure will be reviewed in early 2025. The construction phase will follow to complete the facilities and accommodate occupants by 2026.
“Edwards Air Force Base is a place of firsts: our first jet took off on the lakebed just a couple miles that way,” Edwards AFB Test Wing Commander Col. Douglas Wickert remarked.
“We first broke the sound barrier here less than a month after the Air Force was created. Every generation of bombers since World War II has flown here, including the first flight of the B-2.”
“There’s a reason that we like to say we live for first in flight test and to that long list of historic firsts that have taken place here at Edwards Air Force Base, I am so thrilled that we now get to celebrate one more: the Air Force’s first commercial apartment complex.”
Under Military Housing Privatized Initiative
The effort is part of the US Department of Defense’s effort to address the housing crisis of active-duty service members.
It aligns with the Military Housing Privatized Initiative (MHPI) established in the late 1990s to improve warfighters’ quality of life across specific installations.
MHPI focuses on the shortage of affordable private housing for soldiers and improvements to housing establishments owned by the government.
Work for the MHPI at Edwards will be conducted in partnership with North Carolina-based real estate developer Mayroad LLC.
‘Something New’
According to the air force, the decision to integrate a housing solution at Edwards was also driven by the site’s “multi-billion-dollar economic impact” on Southern California in addition to the base’s remote and isolated strategic location.
The base, along with its host unit 412 Test Wing, plays a “critical role” in the flight and ground experiments for the Pentagon.
“Many Airmen at the 412 Test Wing have been impacted by the shortage of housing options on or in proximity to the base,” US Air Force Energy, Installations and Environment Assistant Secretary Dr. Ravi Chaudhary stated during the ceremony.
“That’s why we’re going to flip the script and try something new, something tailored for the men and women who serve here and to our families. I can say this, we hear you, we see you, but now it’s time to deliver for you.”