With completion of the second phase of Esperanza Business Park in sight, owner Debbie Dufresne Vial says she’s already got prospects.
“We’re very pleased with it and getting some calls already,” Vial said. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries.”
Vial said she anticipates the second phase will be complete by first quarter of this year.
The parish’s Planning Commission unanimously approved the 23-lot second phase of the park in 2017, which calls for mostly commercial to light industrial use along the parkway and adjacent to the north of the Union Pacific Railroad. M-1 zoning allows office uses.
“I think the combination of work being done for Phase II, as well as the construction on the sites at the end of the [Judge Edward Dufresne] Parkway has sparked interest,” Vial said. “We’ve had several inquiries from companies looking to buy locations in the business park in Phase I and II.”
Work has started on a building next to Setpoint Integrated Solutions in the park’s first phase, she said. Entergy bought a 10-acre site for a possible multi-purpose facility, another building is under construction that she could not name at this time, and Vial said Pepsi is considering expansion.
The park’s first phase has drawn Sunbelt Supply, Beaed of Louisiana and Blue Bell distribution centers.
“There are new companies that have moved into the area, such as Blue Bell and Pepsi, and there are obvious signs of business retention with Sunbelt and Setpoint that relocated to Esperanza to grow,” she said. “You also have new development and I think, with the new expansion of the business park, you will likely see the same thing … getting existing businesses to stay in the parish by relocating to a new site.”
Overall, Vial said the parish’s transportation arteries make the area excellently located for warehouse distribution, which she expects could lend to development of a commercial corridor.
“It’s a natural progression,” she said. “It’s centrally located with developable land.”
Demand has driven the park’s expansion and growth, Vial said.
The second phase was driven by growing inquiries to buy or lease land in the park, particularly suppliers and vendors associated with River Parish companies seeking space close to recently announced expansions in the parish, she said.
Established in 2006, Esperanza Business Park started with 20 lots. The project site, nearly 86 acres, is about 900 feet west of Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway and adjacent to the north of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way.
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