Connecticut officials have rounded up as much as $30 million in spare change to extract Pepsi Bottling Group out of Westchester County, N.Y., but the giant has yet to roll out the door into Danbury.
Two sources cited the ballpark incentive total being dangled by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, which would likely be attached to job growth targets ”“ even as consumer-goods companies like Pepsi steel themselves for a slowdown in the economy that could affect consumer spending.
As reported in the Jan. 21 edition of the Fairfield County Business Journal, Grubb & Ellis Realty is marketing between 300,000 and 400,000 square feet of space at Danbury Corporate Center, though much of the space is spread in different parts of the sprawling complex.
Real estate brokers estimate that Pepsi Bottling uses at least 300,000 square feet of space at its Somers, N.Y., headquarters.
In remarks Jan. 16 at an economic-development conference hosted by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, Tower Realty Corp. principal Mick Consalvo said negotiations are under way for a large new corporate facility in Danbury, which a local source confirmed.
Immediate speculation centered on The Reserve, a 575-acre tract of land south of Danbury Corporate Center that is zoned for commercial development. Â
And given Pepsi”™s immediate negotiations, one source speculated General Electric Co. might be interested in consolidating its half-dozen Danbury-area operations under one roof ”“ albeit, a big one.
With The Reserve still largely undeveloped, one local commercial real-estate broker joked it would take six months just to clear away the rocks for any site.
Carl Kuehner III, whose Building and Land Technology L.L.C. owns a swath of land in The Reserve, said he has not had any negotiations with Fairfield-based GE, but said company officials have in the past expressed a desire to consolidate its Danbury operations, with The Reserve a potential site.
“It”™s the logical place for them, if or when they would ever do it,” Kuehner said.
GE has occupied several floors in BLT”™s Towers complex in Norwalk, and recently inked an agreement to take over BLT”™s building at 800 Long Ridge Road in Stamford.
With the Federal Reserve on an interest-rate cutting binge, it is becoming more affordable to finance large construction projects ”“ though with commodities prices still high, it still takes an investor with deep pockets.
