Credit Union Makes Plans to
Renovate PiccadillyBuilding
After serving as national headquarters
for Piccadilly Cafeterias for many years, a large office building on Sherwood Forest Blvd.
has been assigned a new purpose. The building
was purchased recently by Pelican State Credit Union and the decision has been
made to renovate the existing structure from the ground up.
“We are recycling $3.5 million in
office space,” said Jeffrey K. Conrad, Pelican’s President and CEO. “This was
an opportunity for us to make a huge environmental impact on our own community.”
The building will be part of a green
initiative led by the credit union’s management team which hopes to achieve
LEED certification for the project.
Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) provides independent third-party
verification that a project is environmentally responsible and meets the
highest green building and performance measures. The focus of LEED is water
efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor
environmental quality, and innovation and design process, among other
considerations.
“Our objective was to provide a
workplace environment that we are proud of and comfortable within,” said Conrad.The majority of the building
renovations will be focused on energy efficiency and employee-friendly green
initiatives that result in a happier and more productive workplace.
Renovation of the building began in
January and it will last approximately three years. As the leased spaces become available they
will be occupied over time, said Conrad.
The credit union is expected to begin moving into the 42,000 sq. ft.
building over the next six months.
Pelican State Credit Union's purchase will provide over four times the office space of their
original Lake Sherwood Office operations center. At present Pelican’s corporateoffices are split into two
locations. Some departments located inside a branch on North Lake Sherwood and
others are in a building off of O’Neal
Lane. “This move will put PelicanState’s
entire corporate office under one roof,” explained Conrad.
Conrad said Pelican has worked with
its Board of Directors in selecting this location because it will benefit both its
staff and membership. PelicanState’s
focus is on being an Employer of Choice.
Despite the fact that their
headquarters building has been sold, Piccadilly will remain true to its Louisiana roots. Its national headquarters will remain in Baton Rouge and Piccadilly
will lease back about 15,000 square feet of space under a long-term lease arrangement
with Pelican State Credit Union. Both
firms will actually have their headquarters in the same building.
Pelican State Credit Union is a
not-for-profit cooperative serving its more than 30,000 member-owners.
