The RCI was an effort by the U.S. Army to use the legal authority granted to it by Congress in 1996 to work with private developers to construct, operate, maintain, and manage military family and unaccompanied (single) housing.
From its inception, RCI’s goal was to improve soldiers’ quality of life, both in order to increase retention and to show soldiers that the Army recognized the sacrifice that they and their families were making for their country. The Hawaii RCI project was by far the “largest and most complex privatization project deal structure to date.” The innovative financial structure was negotiated with Actus Lend Lease for the Army Hawaii project, which included family housing at Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks, Helemano Military Reservation, Wheeler Army Air Field, and other, smaller installations on the island of Oahu.
Project planners for Island Palm Communities and RCI staff for Army Hawaii also pushed farther ahead of a trend, seen at many other RCI projects at that time, to develop ecologically sustainable neighborhoods.
