Apartment complex opens at CFB Shilo
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2017 (3071 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
CFB SHILO — New housing fit for the “modern military family” was unveiled Tuesday at CFB Shilo.
Lt.-Col. Dave MacIntyre characterized the three-storey, 18-unit apartment complex as providing families an additional choice for their living arrangements.
“And judging by our waiting list,” he added, “I think that they are choosing to want to live in Shilo and be part of this community.”
The base commander had the honour of cutting the red ribbon at the apartment complex at 23 Stonehenge Road — the first apartments to be built on base.
Each unit, complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, walk-in closet, in-suite laundry and patio, will be occupied by mid-December. The $3.5-million complex, which opened for its first occupants in October, has lowered the waiting list for housing, but not significantly. More than 70 military members await living quarters at CFB Shilo, said Jodi McFadden, manager of Shilo’s Housing Services Centre.
She said the apartments represent a change in thinking with military housing.
“I think that there’s a completely different outlook on making sure that people, in their private lives, are comfortable,” she said.
“Fifty years ago, you joined the military, you were told where you were going to live and how it’s going to go, and now soldiers and their families have a lot more options, including living in the private sector as well.”
She considers the two-bedroom apartments somewhere between a full house and single-quarter barracks, the latter akin to a university dormitory, wherein laundry services can be shared and tenants often have roommates.
In these apartments, tenants “can have the outdoors space with the barbecue, but there isn’t the type of maintenance for people that are gone for long periods of time,” such as being posted on exercise. “This gives them a really good in-between,” she said.
The rent costs $675/month. Water and electricity are not included, and tenants must bring their own kitchen appliances.
The building is part of a $14.5-million CFB Shilo housing investment over the past two years from the Canadian Forces Housing Agency, which included building a dozen two-storey duplexes, and improvements to existing units, exterior retrofits and systems replacements.
This year, approximately $10 million will be spent on housing. A portion of this funding goes toward a neighbouring two-storey, 12-unit apartment complex, which should be ready for moving vans by spring 2018.
Other renewal projects include renovating 10 units and interior retrofits to 15 units. This housing consists of three- and four-bedroom complexes, McFadden said.
The 18-unit apartment complex celebrated on Tuesday, and the 12-unit under construction beside it, are built by Brandon-based J&G Homes.
» ifroese@brandonsun.com
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