Redstone family housing reduces waiting list

The waiting list for Redstone family housing is now at around three months, the lowest point since last December.

“There are 66 people – a mixture of retirees, contractors and active-duty service members – on our waiting list,” Brittany Morrison, the community director for Redstone family housing, said. “The majority of that number are our other eligible tenants, meaning our retirees, our non-active-duty members because right now, we’re in the slow season” for permanent change of station moves. “The active-duty members that we have (on the waiting list) are not coming until the end of November and the beginning of next year.”

There is currently “only about a three-month wait list, max, and if they’re wanting something smaller, it may be sooner than that. So, our two- and our three-bedrooms may even be available a little sooner.”

The number on the housing wait list fluctuates, Morrison said. “We’re seeing a little bit of an influx of people purchasing homes, and I feel like that is a big contributor” to the shorter wait list. Also, the peak of the PCS season is over.

Redstone housing includes 353 single-family homes and duplexes/townhomes, and the units have from two to five bedrooms.

“At one point we had at least a two-year wait list,” Morrison said. “We had a significant wait list in 2022 going into 2023 and then we were able to meet those needs. Last year, no civilian tenants had to be relocated from units to provide housing for active-duty military but “in 2022, we had to move some of our civilians out of homes and put active duty in them.

“It’s rare, but especially in the larger four- and five-bedroom homes, if we have a civilian who is coming at the end of their lease, we would have to relocate them to another home or not renew their lease” to provide housing for active-duty military.

“We always monitor the wait list to make sure our active-duty members are taken care of because that is our priority,” which is spelled out in Redstone family housing’s legal documents.

In an update on projects around the property, Morrison said the second phase of the community-wide tree removal project started last week after a pause during the busy PCS season. Once the trees are removed, crews will grind the stumps in front yards.

Dead and rotting trees and those with roots that are damaging underground plumbing are being removed.

Funding has been requested through the major decision process to replace HVAC units across the property.

“Our plan is to get the HVAC units ordered before the end of the year” and get a schedule in place to replace them, Morrison said. In all, 208 units are to be replaced, and the decision of which HVAC units would be replaced was made based on the age and work order history of the units.

“We will have a second phase of roof replacements probably taking place in 2025,” she said. “We’re waiting for the second phase of funding for that work to get underway.”

The roofs of 23 homes remain on the list to be replaced.