Plans Take Shape for $1.5B Gulf Coast Service Port

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Port Cameron, La.

Cameron, La.—The vision is a large one: a new, $1.5 billion, private deepwater energy-services port on the Gulf of Mexico to support offshore oil and gas development in the Gulf. And so is the site: roughly 500 acres to start, with a further 750 acres available for later expansion.

That’s Port Cameron, La., just south of Lake Charles, three miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 19 miles from the Intracoastal Canal and right on the Calcasieu River Ship Channel.

Construction is to begin in November, and the initial phase will include a logistics service facility and associated support infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and waterfront service facilities, Jack Belcher, executive vice president with HBW Resources LLC, told Commercial Property Executive. Earlier this week, Port Cameron LLC retained HBW Resources to help identify and secure customers for the port.

Aerial view of project location

The port is set to feature more than 21,000 linear feet of bulkheaded waterfront sites on dredged slips of 500- and 700-foot widths and dredged depths of 33 feet. Once the project is finished, it will reportedly be the largest private energy-services complex anywhere on the Gulf and the only major energy-services port west of Port Fourchon, La., about 250 miles east.

JLL has been engaged by Port Cameron as the complex’s leasing agent.

“From what we see, there aren’t many available shovel-ready sites, waterfront properties that have utilities and are bulkheaded, so the demand is there, and Port Cameron will meet that need,” JLL Executive Vice President Mark Nicholas told CPE. “Not to mention, shared services through collaborative partnerships within Port Cameron can minimize costs for end-users.”

“In support of the anticipated operations at Port Cameron,” he continued, “approximately 25,000 linear feet of all-weather roads and two new pile-supported bridges will be constructed to provide additional access to the complex. When complete, the port complex will be fully positioned to cater to the needs of energy development in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the multiple LNG projects under way and planned in the region.”

Images courtesy of JLL