[CPEO-MEF] REUSE: Base closures and real estate

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Will Military Base Closures Mortally Wound Local Real Estate Markets?

By BRUCE KENNEDY
Daily Finance
August 23, 2010

The Department of Defense's Base Closure and Realignment Commission 
(BRAC) plans to close 20 military bases across the country by Sept. 15, 
2011. Once a military facility closes, the ripple effect is felt 
throughout the surrounding communities: families lose neighbors, 
businesses lose customers and workers lose jobs. In this series of 
stories, DailyFinance looks at how closures have affected communities in 
the past, and at what some military families and the businesses that 
cater to them plan to do once their base closes.

Unlike the military base closures that occurred in the 1990s, the 20 
bases scheduled to close next year come at a time of great economic 
uncertainty. Many U.S. cities and towns, from Hawaii to New England, are 
bracing for the vast hole that will be created in their communities when 
the local military packs up and leaves. Not only will it take a toll on 
already-suffering local economies but it could also send real estate 
markets spiraling even further downward, clouding all prospects that a 
housing recovery might occur anytime soon.

Those living in the community surrounding Atlanta's Fort McPherson could 
see residential and commercial real estate prices drop even more 
precipitously once the base closes in September 2011. Named for a Union 
general killed during the Battle of Atlanta, the base has been part of 
that city's tradition and culture for more than a century. Its 488 acres 
contain 40 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 
as well as a variety of administrative buildings and an 18-hole golf 
course. It has also been one of Atlanta's largest employers, with a 
total active duty payroll for 2004 reported at $106.8 million.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/will-military-base-closures-mortally-wound-local-real-estate-mar/19599783/

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org