RCI's History

THE RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE (RCI) to renovate existing housing and build new units, grew out of a vision by General Dennis Reimer, to improve the quality of life for soldiers and families at Fort Carson.

Because of his vision, Fort Carson is leading the way for the Army and DOD to improve the quality and quantity of housing for our soldiers' families, through privatization.

Our goal is to provide the best possible housing for our soldiers and their family members, with quality of life in mind.

Because this privatization has never been done before, the need to provide information is great. We created these Web Pages to give you current and accurate information, regarding the Fort Carson, Residential Communities Initiative (RCI), privatized family housing.

We welcome your feedback on how to improve our Web Pages.
Help us make them the best!

RCI History:

Dennis Reimer, then FORSCOM Commander, visited Fort Carson on 10 January 1995. In an address to the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce he commented:

"Installations like Fort Carson and communities like Colorado Springs need to work closer together and share core competencies. We are just touching the tip of the iceberg and there is a lot more that we can do if we are innovative. I have challenged Fort Carson to be the model for the Army and charged them with the responsibility of developing privatization initiatives to their full potential. I have no idea where this will lead, but I believe it can be a win-win situation....Is there a program where by we could enter into an agreement with realtors off post to turn over our on-post housing and let our civilian partners run it, as well as build additional housing? I would like to explore this a little to see what kinds of options are available to us. We need some fresh thinking on this issue because it is an area we have to solve quickly."

In 1996, Congress passed into Public Law 104-106. This law provided a process for military installations to leverage private capital in order to enter into a limited partnership with a private developer to construct, renovate, operate and maintain housing. Fort Carson, in coordination with Colorado Springs partners, quickly established the need for quality housing. The RCI team developed an econometric model; coordinated with local homebuilders and apartment associations. Next, Fort Carson housing residents were surveyed and a housing market analysis was developed. The results of the study became the model for the Fort Carson, affordable housing initiative:

a. Completely renovate and modernize 1,823 existing units.

b. Concurrent construction of 840 new units.
c. Private corporation to own and operate , maintain and repair all 2,663 units.
d. Government provides enhancements to induce private sector participation to leverage down costs to soldiers and ensure availability at their housing allowance.
e. Government maintains a contract with Private Corporation and provides waiting list management, by grade, for referral to housing units.

Fort Carson's real world situation demanded attention. On post over 1,823 units were more then 30 years old. Only 17% of Fort Carson's soldiers lived on post, as compared to 29% for other FORSCOM installations. There are over 1,500 families on the waiting list, with an average wait time of 3 to 24 months.

The off-post situation was equally as bad. There was less than a 6% vacancy rate for apartments in Colorado Springs, and no affordable housing was planned. Rent rates increased 10% annually through 1996. Housing costs in Colorado Springs were not comparable to BAH rates which made it harder for our soldiers to afford off-post housing. With this real world situation driving the train, Fort Carson leaders enlisted the aide of the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers officials to develop a Request For Proposal (RFP) procurement process.

The procurement was advertised in the fall of 1997 with bid closing occurring on 26 April. Before the procurement was finally awarded, a regretful protest occurred and a federal judge voided the entire procurement. Immediately, Fort Carson re-submitted the RFP listing the RCI procurement in the Commerce Business Daily on 9 September 1999. Bid closing occurred 29 January 1999 and immediately the evaluation of bids commenced. On 30 September 1999, after careful scrutiny of all bid submissions, the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers awarded the first ever family housing privatization project to the J. A. Jones Fort Carson Family Housing Limited Liability Corporation.

On 29 November 1999, the contractor signed a Quit Claim Deed with Fort Carson officials; the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers issued a notice to proceed authorizing the J. A. Jones Corporation to commence contract operations.

This contract to build 840 new family housing units in four years and to renovate 1,823 units in five years is valued over $3.0 Billion Dollars. A 50 year contract is the first Family Housing privatization of it's kind and is the model for future Army procurements.