Air Force officials are hosting a housing privatization industry forum at Hurlburt Field Soundside Club later this month.
The forum will give businesses interested in building or managing some 1,300 housing units on Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt a chance to learn about privatization. Tours of base housing areas will be included.
A tour of the housing area at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Eglin, Hurlburt and Edwards have bundled their housing privatization initiatives to pool scarce dollars.
"It makes better financial sense," said Kathy Lawhon, Eglin's housing flight chief.
After a couple of fits and starts, the local privatization effort has regained momentum.
It imagines mostly private funds being used to build homes in exchange for the Air Force letting the selected developer manage and collect rents for 50 years.
The project has been scaled back; hundreds fewer units will be built than initially imagined.
All of the construction will be on Air Force land, but the site or sites hasn't been selected yet. That decision will be made after an environmental impact statement (EIS) has been completed.
A draft of the EIS should be released in the next few months. Sites in the running are on the bases and off the bases. Plans call for a request for proposals to be issued before the industry forum.
Eglin environmental spokesman Mike Spaits said the housing program is open to any bidder, small or large, that meets qualifications.
"This is an opportunity for our local businesses to network and try to get involved in the project," he added.
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