MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- One year after its first residents moved in, the Public Private Venture Housing project here is filled to capacity and has transformed the landscape of the formerly 1950s-era track housing area to a modern 21st Century neighborhood.
The residential neighborhood named Hill Village, has revitalized the overall look of the base with its state-of-the-art community-oriented housing.
“The first change that you see is the updated homes, said Richard Walker, district manager, Lincoln Military Housing. “There are no cookie-cutter homes anymore. One hundred percent of them have double car garages, 100 percent of them have concrete driveways and 100 percent of them have fenced-in backyards.”
In the last year since opening, a number of new improvements have been made to the housing community, he said.
Construction crews have removed nearly all of the 250 old homes, replacing the 1950s era brick buildings with stretches of wide-open, park-like spaces surrounding the 110 new homes. Additionally, new paved walking trails and playgrounds have been built and new street lighting has been added along Williams Boulevard.
Walker said additions like these throughout the year is what makes Hill Village a tightly-wrapped community where residents have pride in their homes while enjoying their surroundings as well as interacting with other military families.
“The reason the whole privatization project came about was to give the service member a better quality of life regardless of rank,” said Pat Blanton, housing referral assistant, MCLB Albany. “The privatization of base housing has evolved the community. It is now total community involvement.”
Part of the community involvement is having residents suggest ways to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood.
Walker said residents have offered innovative proposals to improve the community, which includes ideas for a dog park and a community garden.
In addition to the residents’ proposals, new projects already in the works include the addition of pine straw to residents’ flowerbeds starting Oct. 15, and new sand will be added to the volleyball court near the community center and some residents along McClintock Avenue will have their backyards resodded before spring.
Walker said over time new additions to the community will continue to create a better quality of life for residents.
The partnership that Lincoln Military Housing has with residents here is phenomenal,” he said. “In my 20 years in the Marine Corps I never saw the quality of housing that we have here for our residents. This is truly a community that residents appreciate.”