GMH's contract with the Army is for 50 years. The assignment covers the management, maintenance and operations of all family residences on the base, along with new construction and renovations of 887 homes. The company's partners are the Benham Cos. of Oklahoma City and Dallas-based Centex Corp. Fort Gordon is just outside Augusta.

The new contract is GMH's eighth multimillion-dollar deal with the Army. The Congress authorized the private-military arrangement in 1996. The Military Housing Privatization Initiative allows the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army, through its Residential Communities Initiative, to work with the private sector "to upgrade the quality of family housing and operation and maintain that housing," according to a prepared statement from Bruce Robinson, president of GMH Military Housing division.

"As we continue to execute upon our business strategy and focus on the operations of our managed bases, this partnership extends our own commitment to be a leading provider of housing to members of the US military residing at installations around the country," Robinson says.

He adds, "The family housing assets are typically leveraged with private investment to accomplish housing construction and renovation goals faster and at a lower cost than military construction."

GMH Military Housing operates eight military housing privatization projects. The Pennsylvania-based company previously has partnered with the Army for projects at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, southeast Georgia; Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC and Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD; Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY; Fort Carson, Colorado Springs; Fort Eustis, Newport News, VA and Fort Story, Virginia Beach, VA; Fort Bliss, El Paso, TX; and White Sands Missile Range, Las Cruces, NM; and with the Navy for the Navy Northeast Region Project covering eight Navy bases in Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.