Balfour Beatty charts path forward with Tyndall housing destroyed in Hurricane Michael

March 17-- Mar. 17--TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE -- As the United States Air Force touts plans to turn Tyndall Air Force Base into an "air base of the future," real estate company Balfour Beatty has plans to do the same with the base's housing.

Like the base itself, the 867 homes on the 500-acre property fared poorly as the eye of Hurricane Michael passed over on Oct. 10, the 155-mph eyewall winds cutting a 50-mile-wide hole through Bay County. Where Mexico Beach just to the east was swallowed in record-setting storm surge, Tyndall bore the brunt of the historic eyewall winds so strong the equipment used to monitor them malfunctioned.

Earlier this month, Balfour Beatty submitted its plan to repair and restore the base's housing to the Air Force and the senior lender for the project for approval. Total restoration would take about two years but, if all goes to plan, the first homes could open back up by the fall.

"Currently our plan is to initiate restoration work in all areas throughout the community," said Mark Lavin, senior vice president of project management and development for Balfour Beatty Communities. "We expect those neighborhoods that suffered the least amount of damage to come back online first, as the timeline for their repair and restoration will be significantly shorter than the neighborhoods requiring more extensive repairs and/or rebuilding."

Least amount of damage, though, is relative. Like the rest of Bay County, destruction to the base's communities wasn't uniform. Older homes in the communities of Bay View and Beacon Beach along the water outside the base's main gate on U.S. 98 fared worse than newer homes in other neighborhoods, but Lavin said all of the homes on the base received significant damage. So far, 48 homes throughout the various neighborhoods have been deemed a total loss.

"However, the insurance adjusters have not finalized their assessment so that number may increase," he said.

Homes that can be saved still will need to be gutted, he said, and face interior demolition.

The project submission comes as Balfour Beatty has come under fire both in the nation's capital and locally. An investigative piece by Reuters released in December found Balfour Beatty homes across numerous military installations that were out-of-date, riddled with leaks, mold and other construction problems, some of which might have led to health problems for the inhabitants, who are active military. When contacted about problems, the report found that the landlords, Balfour Beatty, were not adequately responsive. The report, and others following it, triggered several congressional hearings in late February and March. After hearing testimony from military families during the hearings, Sen. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, described what she heard as "disgusting" according to news reports, telling the families that the company "left you hanging."

Locally, the company faced similarly harsh words for its response to Hurricane Michael. In January, Sen. Marco Rubio toured the base and, when he saw the state the base's housing still was in three months after the storm, he called the matter a crisis that could potentially jeopardize the three F-35 wings set to come to the base by 2023. Shortly after, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis followed suit, saying the company has "catastrophically failed this community" by leaving the housing in such a state.

Following the storm, Lavin said the company spent "millions" in debris removal and stabilizing homes and facilities by sealing the homes against the elements, tarping roofs and starting the drying out process. The company began soliciting bids from subcontractors in January, as well as formulating the comprehensive plan submitted to the Air Force, he said.

Per their plan, Balfour Beatty seems to be taking a cue from the Air Force, which has promised to upgrade Tyndall into a modern fighting base to serve as a model for how bases will be built in the future. While they're still finalizing the types of homes that will be needed on the base, company officials said the restored neighborhoods will be "smarter and more connected," utilizing smart home technology.

"Balfour Beatty Communities is working with outside vendors to install modern fiber optic infrastructure in all homes throughout the restored community," Lavin said. "This capability will allow for greatly improved Wi-Fi connectivity and cellular communication capability that will serve as the platform for other in-home networked devices and applications."

Leases with current tenants have been terminated, Lavin said, as none of them can live on base, but whether they will be able to return once housing is restored is up to the Air Force, as they handle active duty assignments. There isn't a total cost to the project yet, he said, as it will be funded through insurance proceeds and adjusters have not set a final claim amount.

Though much is uncertain, what is certain is, with both the base and the base's housing so integral to Bay County and the region, how each presses forward will be carefully watched.

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