Medline gives up on St. Tammany Parish, says it is moving to Hammond – NOLA.com

Medline, the medical supply giant that sparked political friction in seeking to build a large distribution center south of Covington, is taking the project to Hammond.

Hammond and Tangipahoa Parish worked with the company to rezone two parcels adjacent to Hammond Airport where the company says it will build the $45 million project. The City Council approved it Tuesday, and Medline said it plans to break ground in early 2021 on the one-year construction project.

"Over the last several months, Medline has worked closely with Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller and the parish's economic development and workforce development teams, along with Hammond Mayor Pete Panepinto and the city council, to create the best possible project for the community," the company said.

Medline had initially planned to expand in St. Tammany Parish, where it already has a 200,000-square-foot complex. But nearby residents fought a rezoning request to allow a complex four times that size and filed a lawsuit almost a year ago.

More recently, Parish President Mike Cooper's administration denied the company a land-clearing permit for 47 acres of the almost 70-acre site between Ochsner Boulevard and Interstate 12. Allstate Financial Co., which owns the land, also filed a lawsuit.

Medline spokesman Jesse Greenberg said it will take another four to six months after construction for the Hammond center to be fully operational and for inventory now stored at the St. Tammany location and another in Hammond to be moved. The company has sold its original St. Tammany location and is currently leasing it from the new owner, Greenberg said.

At full capacity, the new distribution center will employ 450 people.

St. Tammany have been fighting the project over concerns that the 800,000-square-foot distribution center would exacerbate flooding and traffic congestion. Too, the proposal became a source of contention between the Parish Council, which badly wants the project, and Parish President Mike Cooper, who has been putting on the brakes.

The council scolded Cooper for almost three hours in November over denial of the land-clearing permit, with speakers pointing to the economic benefits of the expansion: 164 new jobs with a payroll of more than $6 million in the first five years, a $53 million capital investment, $1.9 million in construction payroll taxes and another $1 million in sales taxes on construction materials.

St. Tammany also stands to lose $650,000 a year in sale taxes and $1.2 million in property taxes, St. Tammany Corp. CEO Chris Masingill told the council.

It was unclear Wednesday what Medline's announcement means for the court cases in St. Tammany Parish. The Cooper administration would not comment.

Nancy Wagner, president of Flower Estates Civic Association and a plaintiff in the suit challenging the rezoning, said Bonnie Eades of the Northshore Business Council mentioned the project opponents at the Hammond meeting. "She said St. Tammany lost out to people with short-sighted interests who are against any development in St. Tammany Parish," Wagner said. "We are for responsible, appropriately located development."

On Wednesday, north shore business leaders said they were happy that the project at least stayed in the region.

"We have known for quite some time that Medline would be relocating to an alternative site," Masingill said. "We want to thank Tangiapahoa Economic Development Foundation and community leaders for their efforts to keep this important economic development project on the Northshore."

Lacey Osborne, the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce CEO, called the move a big loss for St. Tammany but said the Hammond location a gain for the region.

Eades said her group had supported the expansion in St. Tammany because of the living wage jobs it would bring. She said that the project hit a brick wall with the permit denial, but that she was happy to see Medline staying in the region.

"Anywhere on the north shore, on the I-12 corridor, is an asset to our region," she said. "We knew either place would have benefits for our area."

Medline did encounter some opposition in Tangipahoa. Eades said that the first public meeting that addressed the Hammond rezoning drew a lot of residents who had concerns about many of the same issues that were raised in St. Tammany. But she said through discussion, compromises were reached and very few people spoke out against the plan on Tuesday.

Medline said it will create a rainwater detention pond on the Hammond site capable of handling a "500-year flood event," have 100-foot setbacks from the street and install a pedestrian path on the west side of Industrial Park Road. It also promised money for a traffic roundabout on U.S. 190 and Hammond drainage improvements.

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Medline gives up on St. Tammany Parish, says it is moving to Hammond - NOLA.com