Local communities will benefit from real estate and environmental & technical advice in developing surplus Defence sites for residential use.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has appointed three Strategic Property Advisors (SPA) and three Strategic Environmental & Technical Advisors (SETA) to support the single biggest estates change programme within Defence: the Defence Estate Optimisation (DEO) Portfolio.
The six contracts are divided into three packages partnering real estate advisors Savills UK, Avison Young (UK) Ltd and WSP GL Hearn Ltd (working closely with Jones Lang LaSalle) with technical consultants Tetra Tech Ltd, Jacobs UK and Drees and Sommer UK Ltd (working closely with WSP in the UK) respectively.
Together they will provide comprehensive advice on how former military sites can be redeveloped for alternative residential and commercial use to support local community needs.
Catherine Davies, Head of Estates for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, said:
“Working with industry experts helps us to ensure we are finding the right future use for sites which are surplus to military requirements, considering local needs and generating value for the taxpayer. These appointments offer a great opportunity to embrace Social Value, to create diverse teams working on MOD sites and to positively impact local communities.”
DEO is investing £5.1Bn in more modern and sustainable infrastructure with projects ranging from new homes for military personnel and their families through to bespoke technical, combat and medical facilities as well as cyber warfare and fast jet training infrastructure.
As these new military assets come into use the SPA & SETA contracts will provide strategic planning and land sales expertise to dispose of those sites that become surplus to military requirements.