Ex-GMH military regroups in Newtown Square

Balfour Beatty Communities LLC is the new name for GMH Communities Trust's military-housing half, following its April 30 acquisition by London-based military-construction contractor Balfour Beatty PLC, for $350.5 million. The price includes $62 million in debt repayment to Merrill Lynch.

Balfour split GMH's old headquarters workforce of 200 with GMH's student-housing business, which is being acquired by American Campus Communities.

Balfour's local staff will leave the current site to American Campus, and is looking for a new headquarters nearby, says Bruce Robinson, who will continue running the Balfour piece, with a national staff of 1,000, under its new owner.

The group operates privatized housing for soldiers and other military serving 37 U.S. bases. Its new owner, with 35,000 employees worldwide, owns major construction contractors that build U.S. bases, among other units.

No matter who's elected President this fall, business looks good for Balfour, Robinson said. "Privatization was brought in under the Clinton administration, and executed under the Bush administration. It's pretty well established now," he said. "There's severe deficiency in a lot of infrastructure in the United States. The government doesn't have the money or the stomach to pay for it. The only way to fix it is to bring in the private sector."

He means that Balfour can borrow money to put on new roofs, and pay it back over time from rent increases, instead of having to get a Congressional appropriation like the Pentagon.

"This allows a lot of work to be done when it's needed, vs. over a 20-year period," Robinson added. "If something breaks we can fix it." By comparison, "on a military base, every dollar is going to support the war."