COVINGTON, LA-Rain CII Carbon LLC, a producer of calcined petroleum coke, is returning to Louisiana approximately eight years after leaving it. To that end, the company will relocate its headquarters, currently in Kingwood, TX, to a build-to-suit, 40,000-square-foot class A office building in Covington's Northpark Business Park.
The company was formerly headquartered in the New Orleans area before moving to Texas as a result of facility damage incurred from Hurricane Katrina. The company also has additional operations throughout Louisiana; specifically in Chalmette, Norco, Gramercy and Lake Charles. As part of its relocation plan, Rain CII will make a capital investment of $65 million during the next five years across its Louisiana manufacturing, research and logistics facilities.
Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2014 on Rain CII's new corporate headquarters in Louisiana. The approximately 40,000-square-foot, Class A office space will be built on a nearly 3-acre site in the Northpark Business Park on U.S. Highway 190. Formal operations will begin at the Covington headquarters in the final quarter of 2014, and the company will begin hiring in early 2014. The company is currently at 2627 Chestnut Ridge Rd. in Kingwood, a suburb of Houston.
Rain CII takes green petroleum coke, a byproduct of petroleum refining, and produces calcined pet-coke, or CPC. The combustion process that produces CPC also captures thermal energy to generate steam and electric power. In addition to aluminum, CPC is an essential element in making titanium dioxide, a key component of paint pigments, and in other industrial applications, such as steel recycling.
Rain CII has made significant capital investments in Louisiana since 2010, investing more than $100 million on projects across the state to equip its operations for the long term. Among those investments is an energy co-generation facility completed earlier this year in Lake Charles, where 15 jobs were added to support the company's new power plant.
“Greater New Orleans is the historic home of our company, and a natural location for our headquarters,” says Rain CII CEO Gerry Sweeney. “With four plants in Louisiana, it affords the best blend of proximity to our operations, quality of life for employees, and exposure to the cultural events of a larger city. We are thankful for the support and partnership of the State of Louisiana in helping make this return a reality.”
To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered Rain CII a competitive incentive package that includes a $3.6 million performance-based grant, to be paid in four annual installments, for offsetting headquarters relocation costs. Rain CII will be eligible for a $2 million Modernization Tax Credit, to be claimed over five years, after making the $65 million plant capital investment. The company also will receive the services of LED FastStart® – the nation's No. 1-ranked state workforce development program – and Rain CII is expected to utilize Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
