Galliano-based Grand Isle Shipyard, an oil and gas services company, is planning to consolidate its Capital Region operations with a new campus along Innovation Drive.
Todd Berthelot, chief development officer with GIS, says the company is completing its due diligence to close on the property but hopes to begin construction on the facilities in early 2024. He anticipates an 18-month build-out for the campus, which will include a 40,000-square-foot office, a 15,000-square-foot warehouse and a 5,000-square-foot hiring and training facility.
For the project, the company has applied for rezoning on the Innovation Park Drive property from rural to heavy commercial use. The commission is expected to consider the request at its August meeting.
Currently, GIS operates out of several satellite offices in the region, including two floors of the Rivermark Centre as well as offices in West Baton Rouge Parish and Gonzales.
“Our idea is to make this a regional hub for our operations,” Berthelot says.
GIS, founded in the early 1940s, expanded into the Baton Rouge market in 2013 and moved into the then Chase Tower the following year, according to Berthelot. The company acquired Brusly-based Sun Industries in 2021.
He says company executives expect future growth to come from Baton Rouge’s industrial corridor as well as from renewables.
