TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Transient lodging at 10 Army installations across the country is being privatized to improve quality of life for soldiers and families.

The Army said late Monday that Actus Lend Lease will redevelop lodging facilities. InterContinental Hotels Group PLCO will operate the lodgings.

Five existing lodging sites will be renovated and converted into Holiday Inn Express hotels within the first two years. New hotel construction is also planned.

The transfer of operations takes place Aug. 15. It includes lodging at Fort Rucker, Ala.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Polk, La.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.; Fort Myer, Va., and Fort Shafter-Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii.

"The 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley are taking the lead as the first division-level installation in the world to provide a better quality of service for our Soldiers and their Families through Privatization of Army Lodging,” said Mick McCallister, acting housing manager and residential communities initiatives chief. McCallister said InterContinental Hotels Group will build a new hotel under the brand Candlewood Suites to replace current transient lodging.

McCallister said the next two years at Fort Riley will focus on operational and infrastructure improvements to all the facilities conveyed to the private operator.

He said as part of the contract two historic buildings already used for lodging will be renovated. These buildings, Bacon Hall and Waters Hall, originally built in the 1800s, will provide nine rooms when the project is complete. These facilities, located on Fort Riley’s Main Post, are part of the installation’s historic collection of buildings McCallister said. He added that the projected lodging end-state for Fort Riley is 148 rooms.