Panel’s Top Republican Questions Off-Base Projects

One week into her tenure as ranking member of the Senate Armed Services’ Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee, freshman Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) made it clear where she stands on the question of DOD lending a helping hand to communities searching for ways to support mission growth. “I believe this committee must lead the way in stopping the use of defense funds to support special interests for medical research, local roads and other public infrastructure. While these projects may be worthwhile ...

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New Air Force Cleanup Policy to Accelerate Site Closures

The Air Force will shift its focus from installing “remedies in place” to achieving complete site closure at BRAC and non-BRAC sites, under a new policy established last month for the service’s environmental restoration program. “Getting the remedies in place is an important event and a terrific indicator of progress, but it’s time to shift our focus to actually completing our cleanups ...

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D.C., State Department Adjust Boundaries at Walter Reed

The parcel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center designated to be redeveloped according to the reuse plan crafted by the District of Columbia has been reconfigured, improving the city’s prospects for turning the eastern boundary of the historic Washington, D.C., site into a bustling retail corridor. The revision stems from the General Services Administration’s decision last October to rescind its request for 34 acres of the campus, leaving the entire site to the District of Columbia and the State Department ...

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Fort Ben LRA to Develop Mixed-use Building

Convinced there is sufficient demand for new office and retail space, the Fort Harrison Reuse Authority in Indianapolis plans to break ground later this year on a speculative, mixed-use building. “We’ve got a lot of people here who are underserved” by retail, Kris Butler, the reuse authority’s executive director, told the Indianapolis Business Journal. The three-story building is expected to have 45,000 square feet, with up to 10,000 square feet of retail on the first floor ...

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Housing Competition Under Way for Northern Air Force Bases

In the coming months, the Air Force will select a developer to assume control of family housing at six installations — Minot AFB, Grand Forks AFB and Cavalier AFS, N.D.; Ellsworth AFB, S.D.; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; and Cannon AFB, N.M. The housing privatization project calls for the Air Force to turn over 4,800 housing units and related facilities at the bases ...

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