The Baton Rouge office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will relocate to a building at 18211 E. Petroleum Drive in the Highland Business Park as early as next spring.
The 13,000-square-foot, two-story office building was sold by Share Vista Group to 1066 LLC for $1.1 million, who will in turn lease out 8,800 square feet of the space to the federal General Services Administration for ICE’s local field office.
ICE spokesman Bryan Cox confirmed the planned move to the Highland Business Park, but directed questions to the GSA. Attempts to contact the local GSA office on Florida Street were unsuccessful as of today’s afternoon deadline.
Mark Hebert with Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate says the lease agreement is for 10 years, but he declined to disclose financial terms. He says ICE will be the building’s only tenant. Hebert represented both the buyer and seller in the sale.
The building, which is currently vacant, will undergo some minor interior renovations, Hebert says. An advanced design team is being sent to Baton Rouge to work with a general contractor on the renovations.
The current ICE field office in Baton Rouge is located on Essen Lane, Cox says. The East Petroleum Drive office will feature two or three holding cells. Any suspect needed to be held overnight will be transported to an overnight holding facility and will not be kept at the office, Cox says.
The General Services Administration owns and leases nearly 10,000 buildings nationwide for the federal government, including courthouses and post offices.
The office building is about 10 years old and was originally purchased by Allen Boudreaux, one of four members of Share Vista Group, when it was partially completed. Prior tenants were local engineering firms.
—Ryan Broussard
