Investors back 271 homes in Spangdahlem

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Investors back 271 homes in Spangdahlem
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, April 15, 2008

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Private investors will build 271 off-base homes for American servicemembers in the Spangdahlem area, but a similar plan to build houses in the Ramstein area has been scrapped.

The new homes will help the Air Force meet the demand for units near Spangdahlem Air Base due to the upcoming closure of nearby Bitburg Air Base and an overhaul in base housing that will put more families out on the economy.

The number of houses planned is considerably less than the 1,800 German state officials had suggested about a year ago. That is largely due to the fact that a proposal to build 400 homes in the Kaiserslautern area never got off the ground because of an unexpected home building boom.

Both military communities are in the middle of major housing overhauls. The Air Force is tearing down 1950s-era stairwell apartments and building hundreds of new town homes to meet new government standards. The newer homes offer more room to families, but the housing projects will mean fewer homes on base and more families living off base.

About 400 families stationed at Spangdahlem live at Bitburg, but the Air Force hopes to close the base by 2012.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54052