Seafood companies interested in Port Arthur
Published 5:58 pm Monday, January 8, 2018
A business based in Orange County would like to cross the river and relocate to Port Arthur.
The Port Arthur Economic Development Corp. will consider a letter of intent from Tx. Blue Crab Co. at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 501 Procter St. Owner Nikki Tran currently operated the business in Bridge City for nearly 10 years.
She would like to move it under the Rainbow Bridge. The business is requesting $159,000 to complete their building and fully equip it.
Their letter of intent reads, “… Our greatest goal is customer satisfaction and to spread the joy of luxurious seafood such as Texas Blue Crabs and Louisiana Live crawfish without breaking the bank.”
Their proposal is to build a 50-foot by 60-foot porch space around the building to accommodate additional space for the business.
“We are seeking to provide our fishermen with an easier daily life of loading and unloading and to fulfill our duties as a seafood wholesaler by playing our role and keeping our 20+ fishermen with a good source of wellbeing and to employ more employees to our family of business,” it read.
King Crawfish Wholesale Distributor, LLC, likewise, presented a letter of intent to relocate to the Highway 73 Business Park across from the Bob Bowers Civic Center. The business is 10 years old. The owners are requesting $530,000 in funding from the PAEDC.
Owner Javier Barajas wrote in his letter that he purchased a commercial property at 3137 Gulfway Drive in 2012. He remodeled the facility and purchased all the equipment needed to distribute in areas as far as Houston and Austin.
He expanded operations in 2014 and opened a restaurant called The King Crawfish Shack.
“The moment has come for a new expansion benefiting the business as well as my employees,” it read. “I hope to reach my goal and I am able to purchase a new lot and construct a building of approximately 7,000 square feet; 3,000 square feet of this amount of the building will be for retail space. The other 4,000 square feet would be the distribution center of The King Crawfish.”
Eight additional new jobs would be created, he said.
Standard Alloys Engineered Services of Orange sent a letter of intent to the PAEDC about relocating to Port Arthur.
The company wants to purchase 34.8 acres of land at the north end of the Spur 93 Business Park. They are requesting the land purchase price be reduced by 30 percent from the current $57,500 per acre.
They are also requesting a grant from the city of Port Arthur for $1 million to offset the land purchase. The facility is estimated to cost $15 million and will add 10 new jobs from 2018 to 2020. All other funds to support the project will be sourced through KSB America — a pumps and pumping equipment supplier.
The board of directors will consider increasing the current CDL training agreement with Lamar State College Port Arthur.
Floyd Batiste, executive director of the PAEDC, said there’s “a big demand in that field.”
The PAEDC will consider asking for bids for security guard service for the Spur 93 Business Park.
The three-year agreement with S&S Investigations is about to expire.
A couple of businesses are interested in leasing space at the 501 Procter St. building.
Nathan Rivers with SETX Construction Corp. is interested in moving to the second floor since construction there is completed.
The term lease would be from April 2017 to March 2022.
The 392 square feet space will be rented for $431 a month.
Support Operation Services Inc., a facility services and management consulting firm/general contractors, is interested in a 215-square-foot space with a rental fee of $236. It is a three-year lease.