More families may stay while soldiers are away

Shorter deployments could mean more military families in the north country, but not overnight.

Deployments were shortened last week by President George W. Bush from 15 months to 12 months. A recent survey commissioned by the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization found longer deployments were a major factor in military families' decisions to leave the area.

"We will notice fewer families will leave with a 12-month deployment," said Carl A. McLaughlin, executive director of the organization. "We know that 3rd Brigade will go out in early 2009, and I expect a greater retention rate in the area. Shorter deployment cycles might mean more families will come back to the area sooner, too."

The study, carried out by the research firm R.D. Niehaus, Sacramento, Calif., found 53 percent of the 17,500 soldiers assigned to Fort Drum came with families. During a deployment, however, only 38 percent of families who had a deployed soldier stayed in the area. That means when one brigade deploys, with an average of 7,500 soldiers, there is a loss of approximately 2,400 families.

"It would be logical to say as the length of deployment starts to transition back, that over time, the accompaniment rates would go back up again," said Kevin J. Jordan, the director of project development for the Development Authority of the North Country, which has worked with the FDRLO on several housing studies. "We probably won't see that for a long time, though."

The coming deployment schedule also could create a window of several months when housing in the area becomes extremely tight. The 1st Brigade Combat Team is scheduled to return to Fort Drum before Thanksgiving, and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team isn't expected to deploy until spring 2009. This could create a situation in which housing becomes limited and stretched across all areas of the real estate market as all three brigades are at Fort Drum for the first time.

"There is a lot of new product coming on line," said Mr. McLaughlin, who is not worried about a strain on the market. He said there is a general decrease in troop numbers following a deployment because of changes in assignments and extended vacations.

Two large housing complexes plan to have new units available for returning soldiers and families from the 1st BCT. Eagle Ridge Village, on Route 342 in LeRay, expects to have an additional 218 units available for rent by the end of this year. The end project will have 658 rental units and is expected to be complete by 2010.

"Most of the people have actually expressed their intent to stay through their next deployment," said Dave Barron, property manager of Eagle Ridge.

Summit Woods, the housing complex on Route 11 at the Watertown city/town line, expects to have 80 units finished by this fall and has started pre-leasing about three dozen of the unfinished apartments.

The result will be 200 units, and Norstar Development, the company behind the project, has plans to break ground on Crescent Woods, with an additional 100 units later, this year.