General Electric scraps headquarters plans in Boston

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- General Electric scrapped plans to build a new headquarters in Boston, the company announced Thursday, saying it would reimburse Massachusetts some $87.4 million in incentives.

GE reached an agreement to sell the Fort Point Channel properties where it expected to move its headquarters, which are currently in Connecticut. It planned to build a 12-story office tower there for some 800 employees.

The company still plans to have a presence in Fort Point and will consider it a scaled-back headquarters. GE said it plans to rent office space in the Necco Court buildings it sold for its senior executive team and roughly 250 employees.

"We are looking forward to moving into our permanent headquarters space in the refurbished Necco brick buildings later this year. 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," said Ann R. Klee, vice president of Boston Development and Operations.

When GE announced plans to be headquartered in Boston in 2016, it cast the move as part of an attempt to rebrand the company -- started in 1892 with Thomas Edison as a founder -- as a digital leader and not merely the world's largest industrial company.

When that plan was announced, GE stock was worth about $28, but it was down to about $10, a 3.18 percent drop for the day.