FORT SILL, Okla. (July 16, 2015) -- Corvias Military Living is expanding Buffalo Soldier Acres to the south with 78 new town houses for junior enlisted Soldiers.
Forty-eight homes will be four-bedrooms with 1,976 square feet. Twenty-six will be three bedrooms with 1,823 square feet. Four homes are compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
They all come standard with laminate floors downstairs, ceiling fans, an automatic garage door opener, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and an upstairs washer and dryer.
"The folks who do the laundry tell us this is where they want the laundry facility," said Amber McNeil, Corvias Military Living business director.
She said Corvias listened to customer feedback to adjust the new floor plans to include more storage in the bedrooms, a deeper garage, as well as the open floor plan downstairs.
"My favorite part is the kitchen because it's very spacious and I enjoy cooking so I'll be in there most of my time at home," said Spc. Kameish Moore, 66th Forward Support Company.
She and her husband recently moved into the new home after she completed Advanced Individual Training.
"I feel at home here. I just love it. Coming here to Oklahoma I was unsure of the surrounding area so we decided to live on base."
Her husband, Marcel Moore, said living on Fort Sill "Is easy breezy. I've heard some people don't enjoy living on post I don't know why. For us there's beautiful communities around and there's alot to do on base and also in the surrounding communities."
He was previously stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., where they lived in an off-base apartment, but visited many homes on base. He said the homes here are a lot nicer because of the new construction.
"I was pretty surprised actually as to the amount of space we had and the rooms and everything. I lived in the barracks for about two and a half years," said Marcel.
Besides having the standard smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the homes each also has fire suppression sprinkler systems. The downstairs bathroom also doubles as a safe room in case of emergencies such as severe weather.
"They're serving the country, they can be put in harm's way at any given time. So you expect a minimal standard. We want that high standard so they're not worried about the little things," said Col. Glenn Waters, Fort Sill Garrison commander.
Soldiers may live on or off post. Currently, 20 percent live on post with the rest taking residence in neighboring towns such as Lawton, Elgin, Cache or Duncan.
"You may want to be part of the community. It's a great community -- there's a lot they offer out there," said Waters.
Waters said partnering with Corvias has been advantageous to Fort Sill in many ways, from offering new homes to Soldiers, to making sure the homes are in great condition for the next family to move into.
"A new home is always nice to be in," said Waters.
He added living on post has perks such as being closer to work and having camaraderie with the neighbors.
"Other families that live in the same hometown, they can depend on their relatives to assist ... in the military we depend on each other. That's the great thing being in a military community, you're able to assist each other because you're going through the same things in life, same struggles and good things, too."
Although some may worry Fort Sill is stealing business from the surrounding area, Waters said post leadership is working with outside agencies to ensure Soldiers have great housing on or off post.
"We brought a number of realtors from off post and their employees to come see the quarters on post and to see the high standards. We expect the same thing downtown because we want our Soldiers in a healthy, safe environment downtown as well. We want to maintain that high standard and continue to raise it, not lower it."
Corvias has worked with the military since 2002 and is operating on seven Army posts and six Air Force bases.
Corvias expects to have the final town house finished by February. McNeil hopes they will be completed sooner, but recent rains have delayed construction.
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