Tour Of New Fort Bliss Housing
El Paso, Texas – Fort Bliss is expecting 15,000 more soldiers in the next two years, but the numbers go even higher when add in their families. So the post is moving at break-neck speeds to build new housing.
ABC-7 got a preview of the growth. It’s a story you wont see anywhere else.
As the number of soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss grows, so does its housing requirements.
“Half that force is married and of that, 50% to 55% of that force that is married, they average about 1.6 kids so they need a place to live,” explains the post’s Garrison Commander, Colonel Ed Manning.
With the help of housing provider, Balfour Beatty Communities the expansion has gone quickly. Manning says, “A few years ago we just couldn’t do this in terms of budgets. So this private partner, as a business, can do things like this and invest money and build quality homes.”
He tells ABC-7 some of the old homes have been replaced with new ones. There are also plans for more construction on open spaces.
Manning’s been station at Fort Bliss 3 separate times. He never expected this kind of growth. ” I said, ‘Holy cow’ when I got here in 2007.”
The growth continues off the main post. “At any other post in the army today, he didn’t have a home like this. Right? This is state of the art,” says Manning.
In the Paso Del Norte housing area, the old Logan Heights where Fort Bliss had its basic training, you’ll find two story, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 1,840 square foot homes.
Colonel Manning says during the planning process the Army not only thought about the soldiers but also their families. “We’ve consciously said, ‘Hey, we got to take care of the families’ because we’re going to enlist that young kid in the Army, but we’ll re-enlist a family.”
An evolution for the Army family and the Sun City.
