Military Housing and Installations Redevelopment

Balancing the challenges and opportunities of military base reuse and privatization projects requires specific industry knowledge, transactional prowess and relationships with key decision-makers. Our Military Housing and Installations Redevelopment Team applies its acumen and experience to effectively assist you in achieving your redevelopment objectives.

Counsel for the Full Scope of Clients and Redevelopment Opportunities

Public and private sector clients alike rely on our highly experienced lawyers and policy professionals who provide a wide range of services in the transformation and reuse of military bases. We help to structure sophisticated transactions, as well navigate the inherent political and public relations hurdles, in the following areas:

• Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) – Virtually from its inception 15 years ago, we supported the Department of Defense (DoD) and each branch of the military, along with their financial and real estate advisors in the development of MHPI. For the last ten years, our lawyers have focused on representing developers, lenders/underwriters, bond insurers and others in MHPI projects and transactions, from solicitation to evaluation to negotiation to closing and during operations.
• Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) – We assist public and private sector clients in the successful transformation and reuse of military bases, from aiding in the formation and operation of Local Reuse Authorities (LRAs) to providing local, state and federal policy and appropriations assistance to selection and implementation of project plans.
• Enhanced Use Leasing (EUL) – We help clients as they pursue and are selected for real estate developments at underutilized land on military installations under this DoD private/public partnership program.

Demonstrated Industry Leadership

Our leadership in the complex and evolving field of military housing and installations redevelopment and privatization is exemplified by broad representation and landmark case involvement. For example:

• We represented DoD's privatization contractors and worked with DoD in closing the first MHPI projects for each of the Army (Fort Carson), Navy/Marine Corps (Camp Pendleton) and Air Force (Lackland AFB). Since then, we have closed numerous projects on behalf of private clients. In addition to family housing projects, we have been involved with the newest developments in military housing, such as the unaccompanied housing project at Fort Bragg and the Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL) involving the privatization of lodging at several dozen Army bases. All told, our team has represented clients nationwide in closing several dozen MHPI projects involving more than 65,000 housing units, 8200 hotel rooms and tens of billions of dollars in total development costs.
• We have supported more than 20 BRAC projects across several BRAC rounds, including what may be the first Environmental Services Cooperative Agreement with a private party (as opposed to a governmental entity), pursuant to authority contained in the 2006 Defense Reauthorization Act.
• Our clients are involved in diverse enhanced use leasing developments, including what may be the Army's first multiphased EUL project involving a 300-acre project on the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

Uniting Resources for a Comprehensive Team Approach

Complex projects involve complex challenges and require creative collective solutions. We operate as an integrated team with members from Holland & Knight offices throughout the United States, bringing together all the necessary legal disciplines – such as real estate, tax, litigation, corporate, public finance, securities, construction, environmental and government – to make our clients successful in meeting the unique challenges of reusing or privatizing all or a portion of a military base.