General Electric is sticking with its plans to keep its headquarters in Boston, but under a new agreement.
MassDevelopment and GE have agreed to sell GE's headquarters property, which includes two Necco brick buildings owned by the state and an adjacent parcel owned by GE. Under plans calling for a 10-year lease with an undetermined new owner, the company intends to remain a tenant in the Necco buildings, where its senior leadership team will be based as well as about 250 employees.
The MassDevelopment Board on Thursday approved a plan for GE to reimburse the agency $87 million in incentive costs incurred to date associated with the company's plans to move its headquarters into Boston's Fort Point area.
State officials say GE and the state plan to share equally in any sale proceeds that exceed the amount spent by the parties on the project. In addition, GE is still committed to funding $50 million in charitable contributions that the company, when it announced its headquarters move, pledged to spend to support the community, according to the state. And GE this spring plans to complete work on a section of the Harborwalk that borders the Fort Point Channel.
"We are looking forward to moving into our permanent headquarters space in the refurbished Necco brick buildings later this year," Ann Klee, a GE vice president, said in a statement. "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."
In January 2016, state and city officials announced an agreement to provide $120 million in incentives for public infrastructure improvements and assistance to facilitate the relocation of GE's world headquarters from Connecticut. At the time, General Electric said it would move about 800 jobs to Massachusetts.
"This is a huge win for the city of Boston, a huge win for Massachusetts and the indirect-direct spillover from this will be felt by this economy and this community for years to come," Gov. Charlie Baker said at the time.
In a statement Thursday, Baker communication director Lizzy Guyton said, "The Baker-Polito Administration is proud that General Electric chose to relocate the company's World Headquarters to Massachusetts and looks forward to GE's ongoing contribution to the growing innovation economy. The Administration together with MassDevelopment reached an agreement with GE for the company to fully reimburse the Commonwealth for the cost and expenses associated with the Necco Street project and the Administration looks forward to working with GE as the company grows its World Headquarters here in Boston."
When GE held a groundbreaking in May 2017 for its Fort Point headquarters, state and city officials used phrases like "global landmark" and "iconic location" to describe the office building that was expected to rise above the pavement.
In a memo, MassDevelopment officials said GE's new management team recently informed the Baker administration that their original plan to build a 12-story office building "no longer fits GE's needs" and that the company has decided to sell its parcel and use the Necco property as its headquarters. The decision spurred the company and the state to revisit the terms of their original relocation and incentive agreements.
MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss wrote in the memo that the agency has been advised that the sale of the GE and state parcels together "would bring the best price and would be most advantageous to the Agency and the Commonwealth."
