Environmentally-friendly plan will improve operational efficiency
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Board of Directors recently approved full funding for the construction of a new Operations Building and parking garage at its main campus located at Bluebonnet Boulevard and I-10 in Baton Rouge. Part of a long-range master plan developed in 2003, the expansion will allow the more than 250 Blue Cross staffers currently occupying leased office space to join the 1,290 employees at the Bluebonnet location.
“The efficiencies we will gain from the move will be vast,” said Charles Gilbert, vice president of administrative services. “The single location was also an important part of our business continuity plan. The Operations Building will be supported by an emergency power generation system so that Blue Cross can provide service to its more than 1,000,000 customers even when utility services are interrupted. “In case of an emergency, we will be able to keep the buildings on the campus operating around the clock so we can continue to pay claims and serve our customers,” said Gilbert.
The re-zoned Blue Cross campus includes approximately 100 acres of land, which was purchased in 1978. The site was re-zoned in 2004 to allow for the construction of up to 600,000 sq. ft. of additional office space. The new 136,000 sq. ft. building and garage will be located northwest of the current office buildings. New construction should be completed by the end of December 2008, bringing the total office space at the site to 468,000 sq. ft.
Blue Cross’ master plan includes a green buffer zone between the adjacent neighborhoods along the entire perimeter of the site. Particular consideration has been given to wetland areas. Of the approximately 18 acres of wetland, only 2.6 acreswill be affected by the construction. Once construction is completed, a landscape plan from Abby and Associates that conforms to city parish landscape ordinances will include new trees to be planted along Groner Avenue and other areas of the campus. In addition to making traffic improvements onsite as recommended by ABMB Engineers, Blue Cross will fund several traffic improvement projects on Bluebonnet Boulevard.
“Our goal is to maintain the generous environmental buffer between our campus and the surrounding neighborhoods as originally outlined in the Planned Unit Development we filed in November 2004 with the city’s planning commission,” Gilbert said. “We intend to create a functional design that has minimal impact on the surrounding community and will keep these considerations in mind throughout the construction process.”
The project, which is expected to provide 300 construction jobs, is currently focused on infrastructure improvements, including additional surface parking, the realignment of streets, and associated drainage and utility relocations. Groner Avenue, which will connect to Blue Cross Parkway instead of Reitz Avenue, has been closed for this phase until August. Building construction is nearly ready to begin.
General Contractor for the project is Buquet and LeBlanc, who conducted outreach programs in conjunction with Blue Cross to assure diversity among subcontractors for the expansion. With one exception all of the subcontractors are Louisiana companies and one-third of the total subcontracted amount of the construction cost has been awarded to minority or women-owned businesses. Total cost for the Operations Building and garage is projected to be $33 million.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is Louisiana-owned and -operated. Marking its 73rd anniversary this year, the company is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It is a tax-paying mutual company, owned by its policyholders. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana also has district offices in Alexandria, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport. The company’s subsidiaries include HMO Louisiana, Inc. and Southern National Life Insurance Company, Inc.
