10/12 magazine Winter 2009 : Page 39
Doug Hughes & Jocelyn Wilson Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh Doug Hugh oug Hughes & Joc oug Hughes & Jocelyn Wilson O O www.1012corridor.com one of the coRRidoR’s biggest landowners is a company that isn’t even headquartered in Louisiana, although former LSU Chan- cellor Mark Emmert—now at the University of Washington—does serve on its board of directors. Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest forest products companies,was incorporated in 1900 and is based in Federal Way, Wash. In 2007, sales were $16.3 billion. Throughout Louisiana, Weyerhaeuser employs 1,200 employees at eight manufacturing facilities, including a lumber mill in Holden. The firm managers or owns over 1 million acres in Louisiana with 700,000 acres in North Louisiana and the remaining balance of land located in the Florida Parishes. The timber firm owns 10,000 of its 110,000 acres in Livingston Parish along the 10/12 corridor. And, through a long-term lease with the Poitevent family, Weyerhaeuser manages or owns 8,000 of its 66,000 acres in St. Tammany Parish along the interstate corridor. The company declined to estimate the value of its property, saying it depends on various factors. “Weyerhaeuser and its predecessors have owned the majority of this property for over 70 years,” says Doug Hughes of Weyerhaeuser. “The property is highly productive from a timber-growing standpoint and has been an integral part of supplying high-quality raw material.” But Hughes says the company does evaluate opportunities to sell property.Recently, it sold the land to a developer that brought the Folgers’ distribution center to St. Tammany Parish.Rumor also has it Weyerhaeuser has been back and forth at the negotiation table with Schlitterbahn and Disney over the sale of hundreds of acres in Livingston Parish for a theme park, but no deal has ever been an- nounced.Hughes says Weyerhaeuser, as a matter of company policy, does not comment on rumors. “Over time, increased economic development activity and urban- ization have resulted in Weyerhaeuser Company selling some of our timberland to developers,” he adds. “This trend will likely continue along the corridor.” Weyerhaeuser is also involved in some development of its own. Its subsidiary WREDCo [Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Company] is planning a project in St. Tammany Parish called Tamanend, an 848-acre mixed-use development anchored by University Square. That institution will provide campus space for the University ofNew Orleans,Delgado University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Louisiana Technical College and an advanced studies high school. Tamanend will consist of 1,401 residential units and 430,000 square feet of commercial/office space. 10/12 MAGAZINE • winter 2009 39 t i m m u e l l e R
