Nestle Waters on the move?

Even as General Re Corp. negotiates a $5 million grant from the state as it relocates within Stamford, next up might be Nestle Waters North America, which is said to be considering Oracle Corp.”™s facility on Long Ridge Road as its future headquarters.

Nestle Waters recently acknowledged it may relocate when its Greenwich lease expires later this year without providing additional details or the possibility of staying put at 777 W. Putnam Ave.

Few real estate experts expect the purveyor of Poland Spring and Perrier to bolt Fairfield County, given its loggerheads with New York officials over a bottle bill.

But some never expected Gen Re to relocate elsewhere, given its long-signaled intention to move into a former General Electric Co. building at 120 Long Ridge Road in Stamford when its current lease expired at 695 E. Main St. near downtown Stamford.

According to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, that was contingent on the company receiving incentives to do so, and last month she lobbied the State Bond Commission for a $9 million incentive package to support Gen Re”™s planned move, saying it was not a foregone conclusion the insurance carrier would keep its 800-plus employees in Connecticut.

 

“Gen Re had to make a decision to stay in Stamford or relocate to Westchester County, N.Y., and we were not going to lose those dependable jobs and their (insurance) expertise without a fight,” Rell said, in a statement. “I am committed to doing everything possible to keep good, well-paying jobs we have and create new ones. Connecticut is rightfully known as the insurance capital of the world, but it is a title other states would dearly love to claim as their own. Smart, targeted loans and investments by the state will prevent that from happening.”

 

Throughout the region, landlords are packaging larger blocks of office space and in some cases entire buildings for large corporations.

Early this year, rumors abounded that Oracle was planning layoffs after its $3.2 billion acquisition in April 2007 of Hyperion Solutions, whose software helps major corporations track their business performance.

After the acquisition, Oracle indicated it would spend more than $100 million in restructuring activities related to the acquisition including severance and facilities obligations, without specifying the impact on individual Hyperion offices such as the one at 900 Long Ridge Road. Oracle currently lists only a few job postings for the office, the most recent having been posted in mid-July.

At deadline, an Oracle spokesman could not say whether the facility could be put up for a lease or sublease.

The building would suit the needs of an entity like Nestle Waters, whose lease at 777 W. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich is coming up for renewal.

With $7.2 billion in revenue over the first nine months of the year, Nestle Waters sales have ebbed nearly 2 percent from their levels a year earlier.

Even as it panned New York”™s bottle bill, Nestle Waters has praised Connecticut”™s own efforts to expand its bottle bill to cover bottled water and other beverages. The company has also been a steadfast supporter of local charities and causes, and as such would likely get the attention of the Rell administration for any relocation decision it might make.