Pia Hansen: People become homeless, but houses stay empty

The little houses are almost the same color as the sunburned, roughly kempt grass that surrounds them. A playground built of bright red and yellow equipment stands out like a lit neon sign. Tall pines wave overhead, some dead, but most of them are just doing what pine trees do: standing around, waiting for the wind to pick up, their needles to drop and the occasional bird needing rest.

I’m standing outside the chain-link fence on Grove Road, looking at the Geiger Heights Military Family Housing complex. Carefully planned and solidly built, the neighborhood looks like any other 1950s-era subdivision constructed to house workers, except perhaps not as crowded.

The crosswalks from Windsor Elementary, on the other side of the development on Hallett Road, are still ready to lead kids to the holes in the fence where they used to cut through on their way home.

Today, the houses sit empty – the last family left in November 2004.

In response to a column about the lack of low-income housing in Spokane, I heard from several readers who wanted to know why Geiger housing remains empty.

They all suggested the area could be used to alleviate the lack of low-income housing downtown, as people continue to be evicted from old apartment buildings like the Otis and the New Madison.

Think of it for a moment – it kind of makes sense.

The houses are already there. They are owned by the Air Force, so by extension they are owned by taxpayers, and they could be put to good use instead of sitting empty.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Tristan T. Hinderliter, deputy chief of public affairs at Fairchild Air Force Base, explains to me that Fairchild (like the rest of the Air Force) is in the process of privatizing its housing stock.

Fairchild’s housing is being bundled with Travis AFB, Calif., and Tinker AFB, Okla. In other words, you can’t just buy the 226 housing units on Grove Road without also picking up hundreds of other units in Oklahoma and California, plus 1,055 on-base housing units at Fairchild.

Proceeds from this giant real estate transaction will go to improve on-base housing, by providing new houses with amenities such as central air-conditioning, more bedrooms and double garages, similar to what can be found on the private market, Hinderliter said in an e-mail. He adds that more than 38 percent of housing units Air Force-wide do not meet modern standards, and this initiative will fund what’s possibly the biggest improvement to Air Force housing in the 60-year history of the force.

OK, OK he makes a good case.

And someone’s ready to sign on the dotted line: The Air Force is in the final rounds of negotiating with a possible developer.

No word on who the developer is, but this leaves one tiny window of opportunity: Once Geiger Heights has been sold, the new owner can, of course, do with the housing whatever he or she desires, including entering into an agreement with a local low-income housing authority.

Closing is expected in March next year so now would be an excellent time to start working on a proposal.