Construction continues on Fort Riley’s piece of $325M Corvias Solutions Investment

UNITED STATES

06.04.2020

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Corvias Property Management, Fort Riley Housing services and a piece of $325M in investments are the forces behind the recent round of construction and remodeling on post. The homes at Fort Riley were the first from seven installations who share that funding to start putting that Corvias direct investment money to work.
“I think we're benefiting … from the fact that we took a proactive approach and we were ready to execute,” said Steve Milton, chief, Housing Division, Fort Riley Directorate of Public Works. “We just happened to have our stuff ready to go. And so, because of that, we were able to execute our plan. So, we were the first of the Corvias projects to actually see the funding come in.”
Lynn Hammond, deputy asset and housing manager, agreed, “Yeah, they jumped through hoops. They're really good team here.”
Two developments started in October of 2019 with that early push - the Rim Rock housing modernization project and the beginning stages of construction on 96 new homes in the Warner Peterson area.
Rim Rock is an extensive remodel of some of the classic, red brick homes on Historic Main Post. Those in the home-flipping business might go so far as to say the houses have good bones to start with.
“The thing that's nice about Rim Rock is that they could not have built the quality that's there (already),” Hammond said. “I mean the brickwork, the mason work on it, it just didn't make sense to tear all that down, they just gutted them and fixed them so that they're more efficient.”
By more efficient, Hammond explained that means everything from the energy-efficient appliances and fixtures to the flow of the kitchen space has been revamped.
“The style of the apartment, and I'm going to call it an apartment, it's like a fancy New York apartment,” Hammond said. “The kitchens did not change in size, but it'll be more efficient, the flow will be better with higher-end refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, the fixtures are going to be nice, the cupboards are going to be nice, the countertops are going to be nice.”
Not only is the kitchen improved, but those homes used to have only one bathroom for everyone. That too has changed.
“What they did upstairs - there was only one bathroom,” Hammond said. “So, they converted this smaller room into a half bath that'll go off the master. So you’ve got two bedrooms. And that's a nice feature because you had one bathroom (before) so if you had guests, they went up the stairs and of course that was everybody's bathroom. So that's going to be nice. Just the paint colors, the flooring - everything is going to be top-notch and looking smart.”
Smart is another attribute ascribed to the remodeling at Rim Rock.
“Part of the renovation in Rim Rock is also … changing some of the configurations of the places, upgrading the H-Vac systems and plumbing, … upgrading the energy conservation measures with LED lighting, thermostats with new and improved smart thermostats, things like that that make it a - I won't say a completely smart home - but a smarter home when it comes to the energy conservation side of things,” Milton said.
Most of these same quality systems will be present from the beginning in the new builds in the Warner Peterson community.
“It's the upper-end materials that are going in there,” Milton said. “So instead of using like laminate, they are installing granite countertops, things along those lines … newer upgraded appliance sets and that kind of stuff. So, you're not getting the cheaper, low-end version.”
Though the Rim Rock portion of the project is nearing completion with the first six homes about to undergo their final inspections, the homes in Warner Peterson are still at the infrastructure stage. New gas lines, electric supply and water and sewer lines were the first part of the project. But after that foundational part is complete, the homes will be built in stages.
“They've got most of the infrastructure established for the area,” Hammond said. “Then the next step - starting next month - they'll go down the streets and start doing the individual infrastructure for the home, but they, I believe, just finished all the water and now they're working the gas portion of it.”
“So, when they're building the 96 (homes) we're going to do (it) in 10 home increments,” Hammond said. “The first 10 homes that they get done, they're going to put 10 bodies in, and then they're going to shut down 10 homes. And … they're going to do it that way with the idea … they'll just go in and demolish, just like we did for the Colyer Forsythe brick homes. So, this project will stretch out for a while.”
One important factor is that the 96 new homes will not increase the final inventory. That number will remain at 3,827 homes. Another important factor is that all the homes have a basic life span that Hammond and Milton explained is about 20 years between major renovations, excluding routine repair or replacements of appliances or broken fixtures.

• Date Taken: 06.04.2020
• Date Posted: 06.04.2020 22:51
• Story ID: 371505
• Location: US