GE to repay Mass. $87M for scaled-back headquarters plan

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. will reimburse the state of Massachusetts for funds used to develop the manufacturer’s future headquarters, a project that is now being scaled back. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/DANIEL ACKER
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. will reimburse the state of Massachusetts for funds used to develop the manufacturer’s future headquarters, a project that is now being scaled back. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/DANIEL ACKER

NEW YORK – General Electric Co. will reimburse the state of Massachusetts for funds used to develop the manufacturer’s future headquarters, a project that is now being scaled back under CEO Larry Culp.

GE and the state will jointly sell the property in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood where the company will make its future home, according to an agreement revealed Thursday. GE still plans to move into the campus later this year – as a tenant rather than owner – but it’s scrapping plans to build an adjacent 12-story tower.

GE expects to use proceeds from the sale to reimburse the state for $87 million it spent on buying and developing the property. Under the original 2016 agreement luring GE from Fairfield, Connecticut, officials in Massachusetts had offered an incentive package valued at about $120 million, in addition to $25 million in tax savings from the city of Boston.

The scaled-back project – announced the same day Amazon.com Inc. killed plans to build a new campus in New York City – reflects Culp’s efforts to rein in GE’s costs and reshape the struggling company as a more focused manufacturer of jet engines and energy equipment. The executive, who took the top job in October, was known to prefer a streamlined corporate operation when he headed Danaher Corp.

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“We are looking forward to moving into our permanent headquarters space,” Ann Klee, the GE executive who has overseen the move to Boston, said by email. “While changes in the company’s portfolio and operating model will lead to a smaller corporate headquarters, we are fully committed to Boston and proud to call it home.”

The Boston Globe first reported the plans.

Richard Clough is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

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