Freddie Howard
July 16, 2007
Murphy Candies, Jr.
July 18, 2007L-M Management President Porter Baron nixed the Terrebonne Parish Port Commission’s offer to purchase 100 acres of his 1,700-acre tract of land near Gibson.
Last Thursday, Baron said he received a letter of intent to purchase his land from a party he wished to keep anonymous. According to Baron, the company wants to purchase the entire 1,700 acres to develop an industrial park.
When the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority and the port commission learned of the offer for all of Baron’s land, they contacted him.
Baron said the port commission sent a letter to him, asking for a response to the commission’s offer, whether it is a counter offer or not. The port commission and TEDA were seeking written documentation of Baron’s decision.
“Counter offer or tell us, ‘no,'” said TEDA CEO Mike Ferdinand.
Baron sent a letter to TEDA informing them he was no longer interested in the port commission’s offer. And he did not provide a counter offer.
“I think this is a situation where the private sector can do a better job than the public sector,” said Baron.
Baron said the spokesperson for the interested party with which he has been negotiating said the deal would initially bring two companies onto the property. And he said the interested party could bring a number of companies to the area.
“They got a lot of hoops they need to jump through before they can make a final decision concerning price, but they are keenly interested. I’ve had them out there on the property. I’ve talked with them a number of times,” he said.
Baron said the agreed upon price is not final. And he divulged little else, not wanting to indicate whether the company is even domestic or not.
The port commission wanted to purchase 100 acres to rent out to a company that would have brought nearly 125 jobs with an average of $50,000 in salary to the area.
The port commission offered to buy the 100 acres of land at a price of $50,000 per acre, or $5 million in total.
In previous negotiations with TEDA and the commission, Baron had reportedly asked for amounts around $100 million (three to four times the tax assessed value of $30 million) for the entire 1,700-acre track, which comes to about a rate of $60,000 per acre.
But, only 330 acres of Baron’s land is actually considered “useable,” as the rest is a combination of woodlands and wetlands.
The port commission and TEDA have been trying to help Baron sell his land for a long time now, after Baron approached them for help.
The situation since then has been a series of failed negotiations and failed legislation.
In an attempt to gain some leverage against Baron at the negotiation table, the port commission asked State Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, to propose a bill to expand the commission’s expropriation powers, which are protected in the Louisiana Constitution.
At the end of the 2007 Legislative Regular Session, Gautreaux chose to let the bill die, citing a lack of support from the local government.
Even though Baron declined the port commission’s offer, both TEDA and the commission have said they will be more than happy if Baron is able to sell all his land.
This assumes, of course, the anonymous party interested in Baron’s land isn’t just a crafty tactic employed by the wily businessman to gain leverage at the negotiating table.
