First new military base housing in 30 years due at SouthCom

Written by Alexander Luzula on December 10, 2024

The United States Southern Command, based in Doral, is moving forward with plans to start construction in the spring on 139 housing units on its property, the first new housing development on military property in South Florida in over 30 years.

SouthCom is partnering with real estate and construction company Lendlease to develop these new units, the first of their kind since the closure of Homestead Air Force Base’s housing, which was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, leaving South Florida without military housing since then.

The new development, announced in January 2023, is to rise on 51.7 acres. The land had belonged to the Federal Aviation Administration, which began the process of transferring the site to SouthCom in 2020.

Located across the street from SouthCom headquarters on Northwest 33rd Street, the new development will include 60 apartments for up to 120 unaccompanied personnel, 48 townhouses, 24 duplexes, and seven single-family homes. The estimated project cost is $110 million.

A Lendlease spokesperson said the construction company is in the process of installing the infrastructure needed to support the housing, with vertical home construction scheduled to begin in spring.

According to a SouthCom press notice issued in February 2024, the housing is expected to be completed in multiple phases, with some available by summer 2026 and the rest by 2027.

“The first part of the work would be building the quarters for our unaccompanied service members, folks that don’t have their families here living with them,” said Gen. Scott A. Jackson, SouthCom’s current chief of staff.

“We want to take care of them the most. They are the most vulnerable from a financial standpoint.”

According to the press release, one driving factor behind the decision to build new housing was the need to have essential service members close by SouthCom headquarters, as well as to alleviate the burden of housing and living costs on service members in South Florida.

“The impacts of increased cost of living and housing costs was a driving factor to develop affordable, permanent housing to take care of our number one priority – our military service members and their families,” said then-SouthCom Commander Army Gen. Laura Richardson at the complex’s groundbreaking ceremony in January 2023.

SouthCom’s partnership with Lendlease came about through the Department of Defense’s Military Housing Privatization Initiative. Through this agreement, SouthCom will lease this housing from Lendlease as part of a 50-year agreement, taking the cost of constructing the houses and maintaining its upkeep.

Lendlease is to recoup its investment by charging service personnel rent, equivalent to the basic housing allowance servicemembers would receive. The land would revert to the Department of Defense’s ownership after the 50-year agreement expires.

“Lendlease Communities was well-positioned to deliver high-quality military housing at SouthCom as a long-term trusted partner of the US Army,” said a Lendlease spokesperson.

There are no current plans for further housing developments at SouthCom.