Camp Blaz, activated in 2020 as the first new Marine Corps installation since 1952, is scheduled to reach full operational capacity by 2028. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
A joint venture between a California construction company and a Japanese developer acquired another contract for more facilities at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz as the Guam installation inches closer to full operation.
For $113 million, Granite Construction Inc., of Watsonville, Calif., and Obayashi Corp., of Tokyo, will build an auto organization shop, an organic storage facility, an electrical and communications maintenance shop, a vehicle wash rack and a vehicle laydown area, according to a news release Tuesday from Granite.
This contract with Naval Facilities Systems Command Pacific falls under a multiple award contract that, so far, has yielded at least $404 million in work at Blaz for the joint venture since 2017, according to a Sept. 9 news release from NAVFAC Pacific.
The project supports III Marine Expeditionary Force’s 9th Engineer Support Battalion. Construction is expected to begin in October and finish in January 2027.
“We are honored to continue our partnership with NAVFAC Pacific on this critical mission,” Curt Haldeman, Granite’s vice president of regional operations, said in the release. “This contract not only strengthens our relationship with NAVFAC Pacific but also reinforces our role as a key contributor to the successful realignment of Marines from Okinawa to Guam.”
The project was one of several announced Sept. 9 by NAVFAC Pacific. The command awarded a second, $14.5 million contract to the Guam-based company Pacific Federal Management to build a training complex, also for the 9th Engineer Support Battalion. It is expected to be completed in March 2026.
A spokesperson for NAVFAC Pacific did not respond to phone and email requests for additional details as of Thursday afternoon. Granite could not be reached by phone after business hours in California on Thursday.
Blaz, activated in 2020 as the first new Marine Corps installation since 1952, is an approximately 4,000-acre facility on the northwest edge of Guam.
It’s expected to house 1,300 members of III MEF and another 3,700 Marines as a rotational force. Blaz is scheduled to reach full operational capacity by 2028, base spokeswoman Maj. Diann Rosenfeld told Stars and Stripes in December.
As of July 2024, there are 23 completed projects and more than 50 projects under construction, she told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
The construction is part of the Defense Policy Review Initiative, an agreement by the United States and Japan to relocate some Marine assets from Okinawa to Guam. The deal includes Japan paying $3 billion of the estimated $8.6 billion cost to build Blaz and its surrounding infrastructure.
The latest project is at least the third at Blaz for the joint venture. In 2017, NAVFAC Pacific awarded Granite and Obayashi $165 million to prepare 400 acres of the base’s main cantonment for future construction.
In March 2023, Granite and Obayashi secured $126 million to build an auto shop, electrical and communications building, a vehicle wash facility, a vehicle laydown area and infrastructure work. That project is expected to wrap next year.
