Navy seeks to tap Guam's private sector to supply 2,400 military housing units

 Concrete and scaffolding tower overhead as a Bachelor Enlisted Quarters compound undergoes construction on Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz in January 2025. Photo courtesy of Rachel Landers/USMC

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

The Navy is seeking to procure a total of 2,400 housing units to bridge the military housing deficit amid the exploding demand triggered by the military buildup on Guam.

“This effort is not just about meeting housing numbers. It’s about ensuring our military members have the quality of life they deserve,” said Rear Adm. Brett Mietus, commander of the Joint Region Marianas, which oversees the defense installation management on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

According to the Navy’s solicitation posted on sam.gov, the military population on Guam is projected to grow from 17,000 in 2024 to nearly 24,000 in 2033, driven mainly by the transfer of Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

The revised agreement between the U.S. and Japan calls for the relocation of 5,000 Marines plus their dependents. The vanguard, consisting of 100 troops, arrived in December last year. They are currently housed in a newly completed bachelor's quarters at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.

Besides the Marines’ relocation, the U.S. Army-led Guam missile defense system will also bring additional troops and civilian personnel to the island.

According to the record of decision, the enhanced integrated air and missile defense system will deploy approximately 2,300 military, civilian personnel and their dependents to Guam, along with 44 supporting contractors, beginning in 2031.

While housing projects are underway at Andersen Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, the Navy assessed that they are not expected to fully meet the demand until the late 2020s or early 2030s.

“To address near- and mid-term shortfalls, the government is considering a range of acquisition approaches, which may include lease, lease-to-purchase, purchase, or other transaction structure, for up to 1,600 (military family housing) units and 800 unaccompanied housing units, with initial delivery of housing beginning no later than June 2028,” the Navy states in the request for proposal posted on Sam.gov.

The solicitation requires two-to four-bedroom homes for military families and apartment facilities for single service members, located in the central part of Guam.

The initial phase of the two-tiered procurement targets 400 single housing units and 917 family housing units to be ready for occupancy by June 2028. In the subsequent phase, the rest of the remaining solicited housing units should be available by June 2032.

Mietus underscored the need to explore “every avenue from innovative partnerships and efficient construction to maximizing existing resources."

"Our focus is on supporting the warfighter so they may focus on the mission – and that’s critical to the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific," he added.

Two-phase approach:
 • In Phase 1, the Navy is seeking information from developers on available homes and land that could be used for new housing. Phase 1 responses are due Oct. 10.
 • In Phase 2, selected developers will be invited to provide detailed housing proposals. Expected release of Phase 2 in late 2025/early 2026, based on Phase 1 responses.

Guam’s housing crunch is a mutual challenge confronting the military sector and the civilian community.

In June, the Navy awarded a $297 million contract to Global Pacific Design Builders a $297 million contract to design and build a brand-new family housing complex at Andersen Air Force Base, which is anticipated to be completed in December 2028.

Several other housing projects at Camp Blaz and Andersen Air Force Base are either under construction or waiting to be awarded.

 Read related stories

Navy officials' outrage over run-down barracks prompts housing facelift at Air Force base on Guam

Addressing Guam’s housing crisis: A breaking point or a blueprint for change?

A government study in 2020 identified a need for an additional 9,908 housing units between 2020 and 2025 to meet the demand of the civilian community alone.

In the record of decision, the U.S. Army estimated that 20 percent of the 2,344 troops, families and contractors arriving on Guam to support the Guam missile defense system would require off-base housing.

“The projected housing requirement to support these personnel and their dependents is 324 units, which is approximately 18.8 percent of the currently available rental units on Guam that meet military housing standards,” the document states.

The Department of Defense—now known as the Department of War— “is reviewing these needs holistically" and plans to resolve the housing needs before the arrival of the troops' families in 2031.

Pending a solution to the housing shortage, the U.S. Army plans to phase the deployment of missile defense personnel arriving on Guam to minimize the initial need for housing.

All personnel and dependents, except for civilian personnel and DoD contractors, arriving before 2031 will be housed in military housing units available at military installations.

"The extent of impacts on housing, however, would depend on the availability of military housing, both the number of units and the timing of the construction of new units with the arrival of personnel, to support multiple DoD projects on Guam," the decision states.

Noting the limited availability of housing and the unmet community demand, the U.S. Army predicted that the missile project's impact on Guam's housing market "is expected to be long-term, major and significant.”

Subscribe to

our digital

monthly edition