Convenience. Camaraderie. Close by. This is what single and unaccompanied soldiers of staff sergeant rank and above experience when they choose to live at The Timbers, Fort Drum’s newest community.

A partnership between the United States Army and Actus Lend Lease, The Timbers provides rental apartments for soldiers at Fort Drum, who are otherwise ineligible for barracks assignment. The Timbers is one of five pilot Army-wide developments created as an on-post housing option for single and unaccompanied soldiers.

Open floor plans are great for entertaining a roommate living at The Timbers.

Convenience

This new, modern community offers all appliances, and a variety of extras to ensure a comfortable living environment. Each apartment comes equipped with a full-sized washer and dryer, on-demand hot water, 24-hour emergency maintenance, landscaping and snow removal services. Private garages are also available for rent. Additionally, management has negotiated a 25 percent reduction for cable, phone and Internet services with a local provider, saving residents more than $300 a year.

LTC Rich Green, a Timbers resident, commented, “Simply put, The Timbers is ideal for me and other sodiers like me. When my wife received orders assigning her to the JAG Center and School in Virginia, we cringed at the thought of having to maintain two households for the third time in our marriage. With few affordable, high-quality, convenient, single-tenant rental properties in the Ft. Drum area, we thought I’d have to settle for something I didn’t want, at a price we didn’t want to pay. The opening of the Timbers changed all that. The Timbers offers a fair price, solid construction, great amenities, prime location and an efficient and dedicated management staff who care deeply about their tenants. I could not ask for more and I would encourage all installations to follow Fort Drum’s lead and offer superb quarters for all who serve our great Army.”

The Timbers offers suite-style one- and two-bedroom apartments with spacious, private bathrooms.

Camaraderie

As the exclusive on-post apartment community serving unaccompanied soldiers, The Timbers offers camaraderie. Whether a soldier lives with a roommate or rents solo, residents share a common bond. The common areas and the apartments themselves are gathering grounds where neighbors meet and socialize.

Organized events allow residents to get to know each other and enjoy the lifestyle this unique community offers. From pizza parties to comedy nights with professional entertainers, The Timbers provides a fresh and exciting experience for those who call it home.

Close by

The Timbers is close to work and play at Fort Drum. Offices, services and attractions such as an activity center, the library, the education center, the bowling center and several on-post restaurants are within walking distance.

“I am so excited to have the opportunity to live at The Timbers,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Brown, a current Timbers resident. “For years, single soldiers like me have been required to live off-post. Along with the time inconvenience of a longer commute, like not being able to run home after morning physical training or for lunch, we are typically burdened with extra out-of-pocket expenses living in substandard housing,” Brown said. “The Timbers is new, modern and close. I hope the Army continues offering single senior enlisted and officers housing options like this wherever I go.”

Why Fort Drum?

With the growth of the 10^th Mountain Division (LI) over recent years, the need for soldier housing has become greater than ever before. Documented in the GAR Housing Market study in 2006, there are 17,532 soldiers stationed at Fort Drum, with roughly 1,622 of those soldiers eligible for Timbers accommodations.

At Fort Drum, unaccompanied soldiers ranking E6 or higher are granted a basic allowance for housing (BAH). They may not reside in the barracks and must pursue market options. Until now, those options were limited to off-post only.

A 2004 Housing Market Analysis initiated by the Army and validated through senior enlisted single-soldier focus groups determined that the Fort Drum market area has a severe shortfall in both the quantity and quality of housing available to soldiers. Current on-post family housing can accommodate roughly 35 percent of the need, so unaccompanied soldiers must compete with military families in finding somewhere to live in an already stressed local housing market. Many soldiers are forced to commute from areas outside the prescribed 20-mile commuting distance. This situation results in an increased demand for housing beyond the level depicted in the Housing Market Analysis.

Construction

Kideney Architects of Buffalo, N.Y., designed The Timbers. The 192-unit community consists of four, four-story, wood-framed buildings with 64 one-bedroom and 128 two-bedroom apartments. There are eight two-bedroom, handicap-accessible units with roll-in showers.

Enrolled in the multi-family Energy Star® program administered by the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, The Timbers is expected to receive Energy Star certification. Designed with two-by-six timber construction, R21- and R49-rated insulation, Energy Star rated appliances, envelope sealing, compact fluorescent lighting and tankless, on-demand hot water heaters, the apartments are estimated to be 20 percent more energy-efficient than traditionally built structures.

Total development costs for The Timbers are roughly $28 million. It is expected that The Timbers project will contribute more than $360 million to the local economy throughout its 50-year partnership. Additional amenities for Timbers residents are in development, including a clubhouse, storage facility, car wash station and trails.

The Timbers project is the first to financially close, with papers signed July 27, 2007. The first residents moved into The Timbers in March 2009. Other installations testing the privatization of unaccompanied housing and similar housing options include Fort Bliss, TX.; Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Irwin, CA; and Fort Stewart, GA. Any further expansion of the program will require Army approval after an assessment of the initial successes of these projects.

Article written by Megan Klosner. Megan is director of property management at Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes. All images courtesy The Timbers.