A major marine services company is abandoning their toney Poydras Street address for Metairie.
Harvey Gulf International Marine will build their own headquarters on a plot of land off Airline Drive and Severn Avenue on the site of the former Texas Motel.
The move is symbolic and substantial for the parish and JEDCO, the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission.
“This serves a number of benefits for Jefferson Parish,” says Jerry Bologna, CEO of JEDCO. “One, taking a property that’s been under utilized for so long and putting it in a much higher and better use. But more importantly attracting a major company’s global headquarters to Jefferson Parish and having them invest and building their own building which signifies a commitment to the community.”
Harvey Gulf has been looking to relocate out of the CBD in downtown New Orleans due to the nagging problem of violent crime in the city, according to their President Shane Guidry. Albeit an unusual decision for a company with an address at Hancock Whitney Center, but as Bologna explains:
“I think every company makes decisions based on their own set of metrics and their own parameters. What I will say is Jefferson Parish is very proud of what we have to offer from a quality of life standpoint, and from a crime control perspective.”
It’s really a major coup for the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission and the Parish. And as Bologna points out, its just the tip of the iceberg:
“We have a lot of interest right now. Companies from within the region as well as outside the region. So, we certainly see this as an impetus with more to come.”
Demolition at the Texas Motel could start in the next few days. No word on how long it will take for Harvey Gulf to complete their new purpose-built headquarters building. But the relocation will result in a hundred jobs moving out of New Orleans to a facility with its own parking and a true home for the company and its employees.
“Harvey Gulf saw an opportunity that they could be part a renaissance of that stretch of Airline. And we want to do everything we can to help that as well,” Bologna says. “Because that serves to improve our tax base, bring more retailers, more residents, and more workers into Jefferson, so, that’s why we were engaged to help put a financial package together.”