FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $288 million contract to a Virginia firm to build the new headquarters for two new commands that are relocating to Fort Bragg.

The commands are scheduled to move to North Carolina by 2011 after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) voted in 2005 to relocate them.

The new 700,000-sq.-ft. building will house the Army Forces Command and the Army Reserve Command, both of which currently are at Fort McPherson, Ga., which is scheduled to be closed.

The BRAC Regional Task Force at Fort Bragg said Sept. 22 that Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Chantilly, Va., received the contract. The building will be located at Knox and Randolph Streets on the post.

“We are very excited to come to Fayetteville and Fort Bragg and be part of that community,” said Steve Speer, vice president of Hensel Phelps’ Mid Atlantic District.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Sept. 23 that Speer said the company will try to hire as many employees as possible in the Fayetteville area.

“We will take full advantage of everything the Fayetteville area has to offer,” Speer said. “What they can’t do, we will look elsewhere.”

Speer said company personnel assigned to the project will come to Fayetteville “looking for places to buy or rent and bring their kids along and get in school.”

Forces Command oversees eight of the Army’s 10 divisions and the training of the Army Reserve and National Guard. Army Reserve Command provides trained units and qualified soldiers for active duty.

The Army Corps of Engineers expects construction to be completed by June 21, 2011.

Other projects for Hensel Phelps in North Carolina include a federal prison in Butner and the RBC Center in Raleigh.

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