By Samantha Harms
Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) Public Affairs
FORT HOOD (Now designated Fort Cavazos), Texas – The keys to the first home built in Heritage Heights, previously known as Chaffee Village, are almost ready to be handed over to its first resident, a junior enlisted Soldier and his spouse, come mid-June here.
Spc. Grant Boshaw, 1st Cavalry Division, and his wife Allison had the opportunity to visit their future home April 20. As they walked through, both commented on how wonderful the home was and how they couldn’t wait to move in.
In all, Cavalry Family Housing, formerly known as Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) Family Housing, and Lendlease, its parent corporation, have been actively working on 26 new homes which should be move-in ready come this summer. 39 more slabs have already been poured, with roughly 500 more homes to be built by January 2026.
These three-bedroom, two-bath homes will be available for junior enlisted Soldiers and their families. They offer open floor plans, gathering spaces for families, modern finishes, increased storage and more amenities. Additionally, the homes will be Energy Star certified and were designed by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.
“This is going to be a community,” expressed Chris Albus, Cavalry Family Housing project director. “So, the homes are going to be great homes but we’re going to have walking paths. We’re going to have a community garden. And we’re also going to have a dog park as well.”
Chaffee Village was originally built back in the 1960s and was due for a renovation. A portion of the homes were demolished back in April 2021, with the remainder scheduled to be demolished by 2026.
“Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos) has got very old and aged inventory, probably the most aged inventory in the entire Army. And we wanted to provide modern, updated homes for our Soldiers,” Albus stated. “This is one of the many things we’ve got going on in terms of reinvesting to Cavalry Family Housing.”
These new homes are just part of the overall $420 million community development happening at Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos), announced by Lendlease in 2021. More than 800 homes have received new exterior paint, more than 2,500 homes are in the process of having roofs replaced and more than 1,300 homes are in the process of having the interiors renovated as well. This comes in addition to already having completed several upgrades in the housing communities, including trimmed trees, the removal of dead trees, re-sloped driveways and sidewalks repaired and made more accessible.
“We work together as partnership with Lendlease. (We are) very fortunate to have Lendlease as our partners; they do an awesome job taking care of our Soldiers and families,” expressed Brian Dosa, director of Fort Hood (Now designated Fort Cavazos)’s Directorate of Public Works. “We work closely together and so we’re thrilled to see Lendlease to go out to the markets and borrow some money that we the Army probably wouldn’t have been able to come up with to be able to make investments like this in Chaffee Village, soon to be Heritage Heights, happen.
“We have Soldiers that volunteer to join the Army, to join our nation’s defense and to serve. And some of those Soldiers come to us with families,” Dosa continued. “We want to provide a place where they can live that’s commensurate with their service and their commitment to our country. And so, wherever we can provide them something that’s better, like a single-family home with a two-car garage and a very contemporary open floor plan, that is awesome.”
Upon reflection of the community development, Albus agreed to the partnership’s success.
“I’d just like to say how proud I am of my company,” Albus said, “I’m proud of the partnership we have with the Army in providing these new homes for junior enlisted Soldiers.”
