Textron Systems, the national aerospace and defense tech juggernaut with regional operations in south Louisiana, has purchased the Slidell Business Campus on Gause Boulevard from the city of Slidell, its longtime owner.
In a deal finalized earlier this month, Textron paid $3.4 million, or about $30 a square foot, for the 13.2-acre property, which it has leased since 2007. Textron and Slidell city officials announced the news on Wednesday.
In a statement, the company said the acquisition is part of a broader growth plan for the area, where it has three locations — two in Slidell and one on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East.
“This investment strengthens our ability to deliver advanced capabilities and offers our workforce a long-term base, all while contributing to continued economic growth and job creation in the region,” Ryan Schaffernocker, senior vice president of air, land and sea systems at Textron Systems, said in a statement.
For Slidell, the deal eliminates more than $500,000 the city spent each year to maintain the building, which was built in the 1960s for the federal government and once housed operations for NASA and an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. In 1995, the federal government donated the building to the city of Slidell.
In April, the Slidell City Council unanimously approved a measure to sell the property to Textron. City officials said that the building was no longer needed for public use and cited maintenance costs as reasons for a sale.
At the time, Jonathan Graffeo, vice president of sales and local relations at Textron, said he expected the acquisition could spur additional economic development and growth for the company. He estimated that Textron’s roughly 100-person workforce could more than double in the coming years.
Earlier this spring, the company announced plans to spend nearly $6 million upgrading and expanding the business campus facility as well as its other Slidell location, which is in an industrial park on Stone Road near Interstate 12. The company does manufacturing, welding, assembly and testing at the two sites.
Textron officials said the expansion will lead to the creation of an estimated 133 jobs. It received a $600,000 performance grant from Louisiana Economic Development to cover investments in equipment and improving existing infrastructure.
Textron Systems is part of Textron Inc., which owns other aerospace and defense brands, including Cessna, Beechcraft, Bell and E-Z Go. The parent company, headquartered in Rhode Island, reported $3.8 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Textron Systems reported $347 million in revenue in the second quarter.
