An artist’s rendering shows the completed $500 million housing project in Vicenza, Italy, which will provide 478 new homes for Army families by 2028. The development will feature a mix of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes, according to Army officials. (AECOM)
VICENZA, Italy — Construction is underway on four phases of a $500 million housing project in Vicenza that will provide 478 homes to Army families by 2028.
The first 111 of the units at Caserma Ederle and Villagio are scheduled to be completed near the end of 2025. Another 260 units are on track for the summer of 2027.
Housing quality was a problem for years at Vicenza, Army tenant satisfaction surveys showed as recently as 2021. But the 245 family units built in the 1950s have since been demolished.
Standards for military housing have changed a lot since that time, said Michele Millers, an engineer overseeing the project for the public works department at U.S. Army Garrison Italy.
A three-bedroom home in the old units was about 900 square feet, while the new three-bedroom units will be 1,614 square feet.
Caserma Ederle will feature 50 new apartments as part of a larger housing initiative designed to create a sense of community for Army families in Vicenza, Italy. Each apartment will be equipped with modern amenities to make relocation easier for military personnel, officials said. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
Millers said the Army was seeing families living in off-post housing return to the U.S. sooner, which was part of the reasoning for this project.
A lot of young soldiers are moving overseas with their families for the first time, “so to have housing, a community, familiarity — it’s very important for them,” Millers said. “Their job is stressful enough.”
The housing will have a mix of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes available with three, four or five bedrooms. There will be 50 apartment units at Caserma Ederle.
At Villagio, neighborhoods named after Italian cities will have a playground and a dog park. The community will have a recreation trail and a central pavilion, as well as a path to allow children to walk to school without encountering traffic.
The modernized units will have American-friendly amenities that often aren’t found off post, like walk-in closets, windows with blinds and screens, and child-safety locks on some kitchen drawers.
New apartments at the Army's base in Vicenza will feature built-in appliances and spacious kitchens. The units will also include American-friendly amenities like walk-in closets and child-safety features. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
Construction progresses on new housing at Caserma Ederle and Villagio in Vicenza, Italy. The $500 million project will provide 478 new homes for Army families by 2028, according to service officials. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
All appliances are built in, which is not often the case in Italy, and they will be outfitted with new loaner furniture until the families’ belongings arrive.
“Reducing the time from the plane to getting settled was a priority for the command,” said Rick Scavetta, spokesman for U.S. Army Garrison Italy.
The units will have fire sprinklers, unlike the old homes. Houses will be painted in light pinks, green and tan to match other housing in Vicenza, and they’ll be under about 65 feet high to comply with local law.
Until recently, this was the largest military housing project worldwide, Millers said. Because of the cost, it had to be divided into four phases and contracts. They are running simultaneously, but because they were awarded at different times they have different contractors.
When it began, the $500 million housing project in Vicenza was the largest such project in the Army globally. The development is divided into four phases to accommodate the large scope of construction. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
The first phase of the $500 million housing project, including 111 units, is set to be completed near the end of 2025, with occupancy expected in the spring of 2026. These new homes will be significantly larger and more modern than the previous units, which have been demolished. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
Navy Cmde. Russell Torgesen, resident officer in charge of construction, leads a tour of the new housing being built for Army families in Vicenza, Italy. The project is part of the Armys initiative to provide more comfortable and familiar living spaces for military personnel overseas. (Rebecca Holland/Stars and Stripes)
“There’s a lot of coordination that has to take place,” said Navy Cmdr. Russell Torgesen, the resident officer in charge of construction with the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.
One move NAVFAC took to simplify construction was to build an enclave. The projects are fenced in and have their own entrances, so that contractors don’t have to get approved for base access. The fences also keep kids going to school on Villagio safe.
There will be a fifth phase to build a housing office and community room, but that contract hasn’t yet been awarded.
