ADVISORY/Army Announces First Development Partner for Residential Communities Initiative; Pentagon Press Conference being held on Thursday, 27 June 2000.

Assignment Editors

ADVISORY... for Thursday (June 29)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

WHAT: Senior Army leaders will make a major announcement about the
    selection of the first private development partner for the family
    housing privatization project at Ft. Hood, Texas under the Army's
    Residential Communities Initiative (RCI). Fort Hood is the first
    and largest pilot location solicited under the Army's new
    Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) program and Request for
    Qualification procurement method.

WHEN: Thursday, June 29, 2000.
      The press conference will be held prior to the Department of
    Defense news briefing at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

WHERE: DoD Press Briefing Room, Room 2E781, The Pentagon, Washington,
    D.C. 20310

WHO: Press Conference participants will include:
      --  Honorable Mahlon Apgar, IV, Assistant Secretary of the Army
        for Installations and Environment
      --  Congressman Chet Edwards, Waco District, Texas
      --  Major General Geoffrey Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for
        Personnel and Installation Management

WHY: Using the Military Housing Privatization Initiative legislation,
    the Army is seeking, through RCI, to partner with private
    developers to revitalize the family housing stock and help meet
    the continuing need for quality housing. The developer selected
    for this project will manage, renovate and/or build about 6,000
    units, making this the largest of the three projects in the RCI
    pilot program. The project is valued in excess of $3 billion and
    is expected to save the government approximately $300 million
    compared with traditional funding methods. Other pilot locations
    include Fort Lewis, WA and Fort Meade, MD.

CONTACT: Those reporters requiring a Pentagon escort must RSVP to one
    of the people listed below and plan to meet at the Pentagon, Metro
    entrance, at 12:30 p.m.

      Laura Harbour [phone] ([e-mail])
      George Evanko [phone] ([e-mail])
      LTC Marian Hansen [phone] ([e-mail])
      Mr. Mike Conroy, [phone] ([e-mail])

      For more information about the RCI program, visit the Army's Web
site www.rci.army.mil.