UPDATE: Pfizer Says Building 118 Must Be Sold By Year's End Or It Will Be Demolished

Update, 3:15 p.m., Wednesday:

Pfizer's Building 118 - the sprawling seven-building complex on Eastern Point Road - or it will be torn down, the company said Wednesday.

If the company's efforts to sell or lease the 750,000-square-foot complex are unsuccessful by the end of the year, "demolition is a possibility. A final decision on the future of the 118 Complex will be made by the end of 2012," said spokesman Steven L. Danehy.

"Pfizer continues to work toward investing in science by ," the company said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "In Groton, Pfizer is aggressively pursuing the sale of the 118 Complex through its partnership with the brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield and the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

"In the event that marketing efforts do not result in a sale, Pfizer has begun -- in parallel with marketing the facility -- the application process for a permit for the demolition of the 118 Complex. Pfizer continues to aggressively market the space, and plans to make a decision regarding the future of the 118 Complex by the end of 2012."

As of 3 p.m., Wednesday, the Groton City building department had not received a demolition permit application from Pfizer for the property, according to an employee in the department.

Danehy said in an email that "If Pfizer receives a permit for demolition of the 118 Complex, and makes a decision to move forward with demolition, the actual removal of the structures would commence as early as March 1, 2013 in accordance with local, state and federal environmental laws and regulations."

A number of Pfizer employees are still working in the building, Danehy confirmed. "We estimate relocation of colleagues to other lab buildings will continue through the end of the year," he wrote.

Pfizer has not publicly disclosed a sales price, and Danehy said that information will remain confidential.

The company has it is no longer in need of. Danehy provided an update on those as well (updates in bold).

• Building 126, a lab building on Eastern Point Road, is scheduled for demolition after attempts to market it failed to find a buyer. Utilities have been severed and Pfizer is clearing the inside. The building is scheduled to come down by the end of May, but workers will probably clear the site through June.  Building 126 dates back to the early 1950s. Demolition is complete.

• Building 156 is being adapted for new use. The company pulled a demolition permit to renovate a portion and expects to have new occupants - who are now in Building 118 - by the end of the year. No change.

• Building 114, sometimes called “the ice cube building”, is a 26,000-square-foot, two-story office building outside the Pfizer gates. It’s off Eastern Point Road, has a small parking lot, and is considered highly marketable, the company said. It’s been on the market since February 2012.

• Building 286 is single-story building inside the security perimeter of Pfizer, with a parking lot adjacent to it. It’s about 24,000 square feet and is 60 percent is lab space. It’s been on the market since October 2011.
• Building 288 is a single-story lab, just under 16,000 square feet in the middle of the campus. It’s been on the market since October 2011.

Original story:

Pfizer Inc. today said that it is taking out a permit to demolish the 750,000-square-foot complex on Eastern Point Road known as Building 118 in the event a buyer cannot be found.

Company spokesman Steven Danehy, in a voicemail to Groton Patch, said Pfizer will “continue to aggressively market the 118 complex in Groton , but in the event that marketing efforts don’t result in a sale, Pfizer will begin today … the application process for a permit for the demolition of that complex.”

In April, the Realtor marketing the property told the Groton Economic Development group that .

Building 118 is actually a complex of seven buildings connected together. The complex can handle 900 to 1,000 employees.

Patch will have updates as they become available.