Capitol Ultrasonics has signed a purchase agreement to acquire a nearly 16-acre tract in the 2600-2700 block of Progress Road, near the Baton Rouge Airport, and has filed an application with the Planning Commission to rezone the property from heavy commercial to light industrial.
If approved by the Metro Council in October, the company will develop a new headquarters facility on the site. Robby Bonvillain, finance manager of the 43-year-old family business, says the new facility will be between 20,000 and 25,000 square feet and will include office and warehouse space. Capitol Ultrasonics currently operates from three separate sites around the city and wants to consolidate under a single roof.
“We’re in three leased sites right now,” Bonvillain says. “It makes more sense to have everything together at a single location we own.”
In its application with the Planning Commission, Capitol Ultrasonics also says the move will “keep the company in Baton Rouge long term.”
Capitol Ultrasonics provides a variety of industrial inspection and testing services. All of its work is done at customer job sites, but the new facility is needed to house offices, vehicles and equipment.
Bonvillain says the purchase agreement on the property is for around $1 million. Ronald Norton currently owns the site, which is the last undeveloped tract near the airport’s growing industrial park.
—Stephanie Riegel
