December 09, 2004

SEASIDE, CA. - The Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and Clark Pinnacle Family Communities celebrated the opening of the first new homes for military families living on the Monterey Peninsula. Congressman Sam Farr; the Honorable Wayne Arny, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations & Environments); and Mr. Bill Armbruster, Deputy Assistant of the Army (Privatization & Partnerships) were among those present to commemorate the opening of the first new neighborhoods.

"These modern homes are the result of a cutting edge public-private partnership with Clark Pinnacle. By leveraging the value of this land to underwrite private investment, the Army and Navy are able to provide critical housing for our local military families," said Congressman Sam Farr. "I encourage FORA and all our local governments to use similar techniques to spur the creation of affordable housing."

The redevelopment of Monterey Bay's military housing is part of the U.S. Army's Residential Communities Initiative Program. Clark Pinnacle has raised more than $350 million to improve the quality of life for the thousands of military families assigned to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at Presidio of Monterey or the Naval Postgraduate School.

"This is the first-ever joint Army and Navy public-private partnership and the only one in the country," said Mr. Bill Armbruster. "We celebrate the great successes of this historic partnership with our private partner, Clark Pinnacle, and the military families who will benefit from this good work."

"We are thrilled to be receiving keys to our new home," said Army Staff Sergeant Richard Dixon, a seven-year service member whose family was selected to participate in the day's event. "I think it shows the military is becoming more concerned with service members' lifestyles outside of work and what that means to our overall morale."

To date, more than 30 of the new homes are occupied, with 220 additional families to occupy new units as they are completed on a weekly basis across the next four months at both the Ord Military Community and La Mesa Village.

"These military families, who sacrifice so much for our nation, deserve the high quality of life that these new homes help provide," said Fran Coen, project director for Monterey Bay Military Housing. "We are proud to be partnering with the military, and humbled to be serving our military families."

The Monterey Bay Military Housing initiative also has strong benefits for the local and state economies. This year alone, Clark Pinnacle has invested more than $40 million through local businesses, and 70% of all contract dollars let to date have been through local companies.

Clark Pinnacle is currently managing 2,088 existing family homes in Monterey, and has plans to replace 1,579 homes at Ord Military Community, renovate 37 historic homes at the Presidio of Monterey and four historic homes at the Naval Postgraduate School, and replace 589 homes at La Mesa Village. When complete, the portfolio will encompass 2,209 homes.

Architect Torti Gallas and Partners designed the new one- and two- story homes in styles consistent with the existing architecture of the Monterey Peninsula, including Spanish Mission, Craftsman, and Monterey Colonial styles. The family housing, which have a minimum of three bedrooms, averages 1,800 square feet and offers a range of floor plans. Interior amenities include separate study rooms, Corian-style countertops, dishwashers, nine-foot ceilings on first floors, and two-car garages. Community amenities will include two community recreation centers with indoor pools, new neighborhood centers, a new "town hall," outdoor playing courts and fields, and children's play areas. A high-speed, wireless Internet system has also been constructed for both existing houses and the new neighborhoods to provide broadband capabilities that were not available prior to the partnership.

Clark Pinnacle Family Communities LLC is a joint venture between Clark Realty Capital of Bethesda, Md. and Pinnacle of Seattle. In addition to the Presidio of Monterey and Naval Postgraduate School housing, Clark Pinnacle is developing, building, renovating and operating military family housing at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and Fort Irwin in California, and developing a 50-year Community Development and Management Plan at Fort Benning in Georgia. Clark is also developing and building military family housing for the Department of the Navy at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia and at the Naval Complex in San Diego.

About Clark
Founded in 1906, the Clark organization has become one of the country's premier developers of multifamily housing. The Clark companies are headquartered in Bethesda, Md., with regional offices strategically located throughout the United States.

About Pinnacle
Pinnacle is an international real estate investment management firm headquartered in Seattle. Pinnacle provides both multifamily residential and commercial real estate owners and investors with a broad scope of realty services, including the acquisition, disposition, rehabilitation, property management, financing, and repositioning of real estate assets.