Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

Fort Meade Housing History
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When you visit Fort Meade today, you see a wide array of
housing options. There are the beautiful historic homes,
renovated 1950s homes, brand new single-family houses,
townhomes, as well as garden apartment homes under
construction along Mapes Road. The road to the current
living standards was a bumpy one that started back in
1995 with the idea of privatized housing.
A plan for privatized housing
In 1995, the manager of housing at Fort Meade, as part
of the Military District of Washington, began talks to find
ways to privatize housing on post. A plan was developed
in which Fort Meade would maintain ownership of the
land the homes occupied, transfer the existing homes
to the county and have the county work with private
developers to replace or renovate the homes. Those initial
plans did not pan out.
Then came a 2000 article in The Washington Post
which detailed the poor conditions of many of the homes
on post. In the investigative report, the home of a Navy
Petty Officer living in Argon Hills was said to have thick
lead based paint on the walls, so thick the paint could
be peeled off in large chunks. An Army major living in
MacArthur Manor reported having clogged heating and
air vents, leaving little room for heat to move through
the home. The family also dealt with moldy bathrooms
according to The Washington Post. It was apparent that
something had to be done about the condition of homes
on Fort Meade.
The Pilot Project
Fort Meade was selected for a pilot project in 1999 called
Residential Communities Initiative. Enlisted soldiers,
officers and spouses were asked to serve on a committee
meant to advise garrison staff on suggested housing
improvements. An RCI Staff Advisory Team and an RCI
Support Team were formed to work on the plans.
The Request for Quote was released on May 1, 2000.
The RFQ specified that the developer selected needed
either to replace or renovate approximately 2,600 of
Fort Meade’s 2,862 existing homes, including 112 historic
houses. The contract required renovations to be complete
within the first 10 years of the project. The developer
would also be expected to build approximately 308 new
homes in the first four years of the project.
On March 6, 2001, the Army announced that MC
Partners, LLC, which was a partnership of Picerne Real
Estate Group and the IT Group, had been awarded
the Fort Meade project. Two months later, the Army
officially kicked off the Community Development and
Management Plan process by hosting a signing ceremony
at Fort Meade, attended by Acting Secretary of the
Army Joseph Westphal, MDW Commander Maj. Gen.
James T. Jackson, Garrison Commander Col. Michael J.
Stewart, John Picerne of Picerne Real Estate Group, U.S.
Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland), U.S. Representative
Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland), and former Assistant
Secretary of the Army Mahlon “Sandy” Apgar IV.
Unfortunately, housing at Fort Meade had been so bad
for so long, it had developed a reputation that proved hard
to overcome. Many families insisted on living off post
and for good reason. At least one Army official working
on the project called the existing homes “deplorable.” It
didn’t take long for all parties involved to realize that most
of the housing on Fort Meade didn’t need upgrades, they
needed complete renovations.
Congress approved DOD’s CDMP in the spring of
2002 and on May 1, 2002, responsibility for 2,500 Fort
Meade family housing units was transferred to Picerne.
While working through the approval and funding process
had been a tremendous accomplishment, the challenges
were just beginning.
Historic Problems
The partnership agreement included renovating the
historic homes on Fort Meade which resulted in
compliance issues with the National Historic Preservation
Act. Homes with lead-based paint, methane gas produced
by historic landfills, a backlog of maintenance issues and
a program that had never been attempted before resulted
in a long road to sucess. A belief that privatized housing
was the best way to improve the life for families on Fort
Meade meant the installation and the housing partners
never gave up searching for resolutions to the myriad of
problems.