Air Force, Denver Community Celebrate Final Property Transfer of Buckley Annex

  • Published
  • By Rachel Fish
  • Air Force Real Property Agency Public Affairs
SAN ANTONIO, Texas --  Air Force representatives and community leaders from Denver, Colo. celebrated the final transfer of 70 acres of the former Buckley Annex to the Lowry Economic Redevelopment Authority during a ceremony May 31.

Buckley Annex was carved out of the former Lowry Air Force Base to support the Air Force's Defense Finance and Accounting Service and the Air Reserve Personnel Center when the base closed in 1994. The annex was selected for closure in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision, and officially closed in September 2011.

Mr. Terry A. Yonkers, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics, provided opening remarks focusing on the benefits redevelopment can bring to local communities.

"It's you, the community, who deserves the recognition for this tremendous redevelopment at the former Lowry," Mr. Yonkers said. "Buckley Annex will surely be one of our greatest success stories."

As the entity in charge of redeveloping land at the former installation, the Lowry Economic Redevelopment Authority has already transformed the former Lowry AFB into a sustainable, mixed-use community with more than 4,500 homes and 9,500 residents. The plan is for Buckley Annex to follow suit.

Other distinguished guests included the Honorable Michael Hancock, Mayor of Denver; the Honorable Steve Hogan, Mayor of Aurora; and Col. Patricia Blassie, Commander of Air Reserve Personnel Center.

AFRPA acquires, manages and disposes of Air Force-controlled real property worldwide. The agency's BRAC division has managed the remediation and transfer of more than 78,700 acres of property at 40 former installations to local communities for economic development. Buckley Annex is the 29th former installation transferred for community reuse.

For more information on the Air Force's BRAC Environmental Cleanup Program, please call 866-725-7617 or email afrpa.pa@us.af.mil.