The project is part of the Residential Communities Initiative at Fort Lewis. RCI at Fort Lewis is at the forefront of the privatization of Army housing and has the potential to keep the Puget Sound economy humming along for the next five decades.

In addition to building more than 108 housing units, older family housing on Fort Lewis is being updated. A total of 300 units will be developed in the next few years, and in addition to the new homes, most of the existing 4,000 units on the base will be renovated and redesigned as part of the 50-year partnership agreement. According to Fort Lewis officials, that means money is flowing into the local economy. Under terms of the RCI partnership agreement, most of the sub-contractors used in construction and renovation of family housing on Fort Lewis will come from the local area.

RCI is employing more than 500 skilled tradesmen every day, with more than 50 local subcontracting firms at work at any given time on this project. Fort Lewis estimates that as a result of RCI, more than $1.2 billion will be pumped into the local economy over the next 50 years.