The Northshore continues to experience aggressive growth with no slowdown in sight. At the Northshore Business Council’s February Tri Parish Development Meeting this past February, Russell Richardson, president and CEO of St. Tammany Parish Economic Development announced that St. Tammany Parish alone had 23 active economic development projects, with another four or five announcements yet to come for 2026.
Area construction companies are benefiting from that growth, with their work laying the groundwork for the future of Southeast Louisiana. The following three firms are currently at work on projects aimed at making an impact with charitable organizations, infrastructure expansion and even historical restoration.
Rebuilding Bridges
As part of a push to reverse the slow erosions of bridge structures throughout the state, last September the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) — in partnership with the Office of Louisiana Highway Construction (OLHC) — launched a $100.1 million initiative to renew more than 60 bridges.
Enter RNGD, a firm that prides itself on out-of-the-box thinking and a “renegade” approach to traditional construction challenges. Based out of New Orleans, RNGD is currently rebuilding two bridges on the Northshore, one in Tangipahoa Parish and one in Washington Parish. Both are ground-up modernizations designed to replace the previously deteriorating concrete foundations with sturdier asphalt ones.
“The process requires us to remove the existing bridge, cut the existing pile down below grade, drive in new piles and build the new bridge on top,” explained Bret Ellis, sector leader for heavy civil and bridge with RNGD. “The concrete piles we are driving are about 18 inches square and 85 feet long, driven to depth with concrete casts that can support the bridge deck on top of that. Both of our bridge builds include a shoulder, so the deck grew from a 24-foot-wide pathway to a 36-foot pathway.”
By using hydraulic studies to determine the acceptable number of spans and the length that the bridge can accommodate, along with drainage plans to best counteract the effects of the Louisiana climate for rural bridges spanning water, RNGD said it is “utilizing a higher safety threshold to protect both themselves and the integrity of their projects without cutting corners.”
Holy Historic Renovation
While Covington-based Gulf States Real Estate and Construction Services, Inc., mostly focuses on new builds, it also takes on historical restorations — with the latest currently in progress in the heart of New Orleans.
The Jerusalem Temple has sat sentinel on St. Charles Avenue for more than 100 years. Once a Shriner’s Temple in the early 20th century, its usage was cut at the knees by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina.
In 2006, Mandeville-based Church of the King purchased the historical landmark property from The Way Church. In 2018, the church announced plans to renovate the property into a new worship center with the goal of opening in the winter of 2019. Multiple roadblocks, including a global pandemic, caused the work to stretch on and costs to almost double, totaling more than $31 million. The church’s website now says it anticipates a September 2026 opening.
Four years ago, Church of the King brought on Gulf States. With the basic footprint of the building remaining the same, Gulf States is charged with completing two additions to the building’s rear, adding an elevator shaft, and constructing a housing for utilities and a generator. A team well-versed in working in aging properties, Gulf States Construction’s portfolio includes (name a few other reno projects?).
“A lot of planning and design go into maintaining the building’s heritage,” said Jason Reibert, vice president at Gulf States Construction Services, Inc. “Given the age of the (1918)building, we knew that this renovation would be a challenge. Even though we were able to find the original plans for the building from 1917, we still found things that were not noted as we began to open up walls — things unseen for 50 to 60 years. That is to be expected with this kind of job, but it doesn’t make things easier.”
Plans are in place for the church to eventually host different services and offerings from the basement to the penthouse of the 50,000-square-foot building.
“To be in this project and to help bring The Church of the King back to its place as a functional public offering and gathering place is quite remarkable,” said Reibert. “The church has a great vision for this project that is much needed in the community, and we are happy to be part of the team.”
A New Hope
For CM Combs Construction Company, based in Madisonville, projects across the Greater New Orleans area are nothing new, with their handiwork visible in everything from historic renovations of restaurants like DiCristina’s in Covington to The National WWII Museum’s star-spangled canopy in the Central Business District.
A little closer to home, CM Combs is lending their expertise to more philanthropic efforts by helping to construct Brooke’s Place at the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust Campus, a new facility operated by Hope House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the cycle of child abuse in their community.
“This has been one of the best projects for Hope House since our inception in 1994,” said Thomas Mitchell, LPC-S, executive director of Hope House. “Our new building will be a game changer for our ability to meet each child’s unique needs related to safety, justice and recovery.”
Built next door to the existing Hope House headquarters in Downtown Convington, the new building is set to open this summer. By creating a more private, child-centered environment for families in crisis, and a dedicated space for community training and outreach, Brooke’s Place at the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust Campus aims to allow Hope House the chance to facilitate simultaneous forensic interviewing with multiple agencies while providing additional space for much-needed therapy services that promote healing from PTSD.
“During my first year of working at the Hope House, we performed 282 forensic interviews with child abuse victims. Last year, we performed 571 forensic interviews. Due to the increase in demand, our limited infrastructure no longer meets the demand of our community,” said Mitchell. “Chris and Michael (Combs) with CM Combs Construction are both longtime community partners of the Hope House, and it’s been an honor to work with them on completing this project.”
