Upgrades are on the way

   Open floor plan. Gourmet kitchen. Spacious master suite. Two-car garage.

   Welcome to military living.

   That's right - military.

   This housing project at Peterson Air Force Base will look more like a master-planned suburb than an armed forces compound.

   Ground was broken last week on the site where 597 homes will be built, 55 renovated and 440 demolished. Next month, work starts on 242 units at Schriever, which now has no family housing.

   For both housing missions, the military joined forces with a private Tennessee-based company, Actus Lend Lease, to form Tierra Vista Communities.

   The first phase of 30 homes are expected to be move-in ready at Peterson in about a year.

   Both projects are of great - and green - proportion. Although they'll be larger than current units, the single-family and duplex homes will be energy efficient and just plain nice. Homes will have kitchens with EnergyStar appliances, tankless water heaters, central air-conditioning, technology niches for home offices, covered porches and walk-in closets.

   The project will pump money into the local economy. About 85 percent of jobs will go to local workers and subcontractors.

   "This is a big, big day," Col. Jay Raymond, 21st Space Wing commander, told the people who gathered on the blustery day when dirt was ceremoniously slung.

   Tierra Vista will manage the rental properties at both bases and do the snow shoveling and lawn mowing. Plans also include new community centers with walking paths and trails.

   Peterson Senior Airman Grant Schneider and his wife feel like they'll be moving into a dream home. "I can't wait," Victoria Schneider said.

   The couple and 5-month-old baby Shelby now live on base in a two-bedroom home with a carport. He looks forward to a two-car garage.

   Bob Mathis of Actus Lend Lease recalled his military home in the 1970s, when his family of four lived in an 800-square-foot cinderblock house that still typifies many bases.

   "That's the vision I carry of my first home," he said. "This is a new vision."

   Actus Lend Lease has a 50-year contract with the Air Force for development, construction, management and maintenance of the $881 million projects, which include renovating homes at a Los Angeles Air Force Base in California.

   Military housing privatization is a result of a 1996 congressional initiative for private developers to help replace substandard housing for members of the armed forces.

   For more information, go to www.tierra-vista.com.