Posted on 01/25/2023 6:31:38 AM PST by Puppage
LEGO officials announced that the company will be clearing out of its Enfield office by the end of 2026.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtnh.com ...
Riiight. They love paying the high corporate taxes here.
I don’t think it is the corporate taxes that would motivate a move to MA:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2016/rpt/2016-R-0025.htm
What I think is happening is that facility costs (either state) have gone much higher (partially due to electricity cost increases—Northeast Utilities per kilowatt hour rate just doubled—not a typo—doubled effective this month).
My guess would be that the combined facility footprint will be much less in one location—and it probably would not have mattered that much where it was located.
We visited Enfield in July, and thought that it was a fine city for being over 200 years old.
They are really trying to revive themselves.
"Why don't you take a picture -- it'll last longer."
😉
I see what you did there!
My guess is mostly everyone was remote…and who really wants to work in Enfield.
Yankee Candle just announced the same thing. They about 30 miles up the road. They are closing their “corporate” office and moving it to conglomerate headquarters.
Remote work is bad for commercial real estate.
Enfield is OK.
It used to be the center for Ct Shade Tobacco. In fact, my first job was on the farm next to where the lego facility is located.
But, most of the farms are gone and it’s become a commuter community. In the last couple of years there has been a growth in BIG warehouses and distribution centers.
It is very close to major East/West and North/South traffic infrastructure and CT is outstanding at attracting new companies.
“Remote work is bad for commercial real estate.”
Good point.
The “elephant in the room” for CT is Travelers.
Their corporate HQ is now in MN and they have thousands and thousands of CT employees in a business where almost everything can be done remotely if senior management in MN want to go there.
I am amazed they have continued to maintain all their expensive real estate in Hartford—it is like throwing cash out the window.
My Eversource bill doubled this month as well.
You can attract talent in Boston. Enfield, CT not as much.
Those electric increases are just hitting now.
Out of state corporate accountants and other executives with corporations owning real estate across the state will soon be in meetings with the same agenda:
“What is our path to close our CT facilities?”
The Enfield location looks like it has loading docks and a warehousing function. Can’t imagine moving that to Boston, so other changes must be afoot in distribution.
In the last couple of years there has been a growth in BIG warehouses and distribution centers.
Same here in Jax, FL. One down side here to that is a lot more idling big rigs on the roadside. Particularly in the morning. They build the warehouses but not the infrastructure for the trucks using them.
It should be easy to disassemble...
Commuter community - that is what it has become.
Quick drive to Hartford and Springfield.
We went to a church in the Enfield Mall, and thought that the people were just as fine as any we have ever met.
But, like many small towns, it is a place that people move from when they are young, and move back to when the get older.
I used to work with the CATV company that built the plant. I don’t think people realize how BIG Engulfed is. We were driving back from Ellington’s Farmer’s Market on Saturday and my wife commented about how big, land-wise, that town is.
At one point, I could tell you how many miles of cable plant were there...ha ha. But its a large plot of land.
According to this article:
https://bankerandtradesman.com/lego-picks-boston-for-new-americas-headquarters/
the distribution function is already removed from the Enfield offices.
It is also interesting that they are still seeking a Boston site—which means they have the option of bailing to anywhere in the country if they choose to do so.
I was thinking so hard to get something like that into the conversation when, WHAMMY, you did it!
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