Louisiana offered to subsidize a portion of the costs to build new facilities for the Marine Corps in Algiers.
Louisiana has lost its bid to bring a Marine Corps information technology operation to the Federal City campus in Algiers, according to a newspaper report. The Marine Corps has decided to leave 400 high-paying civilian IT jobs in Missouri, the Kansas City Star reported Wednesday.
State and local officials in Louisiana had been courting the Marines to locate the IT center at the Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans, the 29-acre military compound viewed as the anchor for the Federal City campus. Louisiana officials could not be reached immediately for comment Thursday morning.
The Louisiana Department of Economic Development had offered to subsidize a portion of the Marine Corps' costs to move the center to Algiers. The state put up $150 million from its "mega fund" for economic development projects to build the Marine Corps Support Facility, home to Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North national headquarters. The state gave those facilities to the Marine Corps.
But instead of moving the IT center, the Marine Corps has opted to continue leasing office space at a former federal building for at least another 30 years, according to the Kansas City Star report. The Marines' current lease at the site was set to expire in 2017.
Louisiana officials were hoping the Marines would move to Algiers after that lease expired. Officials in Louisiana have said the Kansas City site is prone to flooding.
U.S. Sen. Claire McKaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced the Marines' decision Wednesday.
Officials in Louisiana worried that the political uncertainties caused by a dispute over control of Federal City would hurt attempts to bring the jobs to Algiers. That dispute, between the Algiers Development District board and the New Orleans Federal Alliance, was resolved when the groups agreed to create the Joint Development Committee.
That committee took over Federal City earlier this year. Its mission is to oversee the conversion of the shuttered Naval Support Activity into a mixed-used development anchored by the Marine Corps commands.
As it stands, Federal City counts about a dozen tenants, from a Subway store to the New Orleans Police Department's 4th District headquarters. The site includes a YMCA that will expand to include a swimming pool and the New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy, a state charter high school where students must join the Marine Corps Junior ROTC.
Meanwhile, "Treme's" Wendell Pierce has told the Algiers Economic Development Foundation he plans to open a Sterling Farms grocery at Federal City. He opened one in Marrero in March.