Avondale shipyard, now owned by T. Parker Host, will be moving the company headquarters from Virginia to Jefferson Parish. The company owns and runs many other ports in Louisiana and hopes to sell the Avondale shipyard site to the Port of South Louisiana.
The sale to the Port of South Louisiana will cost $445 million but the sale of the shipyard must be approved by the state Bond Commission first. In order to have the approval, Avondale (also known as the Avondale Global Gateway) will have to first have studies done in feasibility, engineering and environmental studies.
“We have already moved the majority of our business to this region and made critical investments in sites like Avondale, which created 300 full-time jobs. We see the headquarters location as the natural progression of our business that is increasingly becoming centered on the Mississippi River and New Orleans region,” Adam Anderson, T. Parker Host’s CEO, said.
There is still discussion about how many employees will relocate to the new headquarters. Anderson already is a local having moved to New Orleans several years ago when Avondale was first purchased. In fact, many senior staff are already located at Avondale.
“Avondale….is where both our CFO and I go to work every day. We’ve already added over 20 corporate jobs there and plan to add more,” says Anderson.