EB eyes New London for more space

New London - Electric Boat needs more space to accommodate its growing engineering department in Groton and is looking at several possible locations here, including in the Fort Trumbull area.

Electric Boat put out a request for proposals late last year for 50,000 square feet of office space and made inquiries into the availability of space at 194 Howard St., Shaw's Cove 6, and 1 Chelsea Place in Fort Trumbull.

Peter Levine, the owner of the Howard Street property, said he responded to the RFP and was told in February that EB was still contemplating a decision.

"Everyone is waiting to hear what the decision is,'' he said.

New London also soon will have available office space at Pfizer Inc.'s research and development headquarters on Pequot Avenue when the pharmaceutical company moves its operations out of New London to Groton in 2011.

New London Mayor Rob Pero said there's a "good possibility" EB will be making a decision soon and he is betting it has something to do with Pfizer property.

"What was told to me is that they were interested in the (Pfizer) building and a decision would be made sooner rather than later,'' he said.

A spokesman for EB said Thursday that the Groton-based submarine manufacturer is looking for more office space.

"We do have some need for additional space for expected growth in the engineering and design workforce,'' Robert Hamilton said. "We are exploring all our options and no final decision has been made."

The Pfizer complex has 700,000 square feet of office space on 33 waterfront acres. The real estate company that is listing the property has said the company wants to sell or lease, and could rent 100,000-square-foot portions of the building.

Levine's office building at 194 Howard Street, which once housed Pfizer workers, is vacant and has 50,000 square feet of space.

There are 30,000 square feet available in the Shaw's Cove complex at the intersection of Bank and Howard streets. The Chelsea street property is a 90,000-square-foot, four-story building inside the Fort Trumbull development area. The Coast Guard's Research & Development Centers, Marine Safety Lab and International Ice Patrol take up about 50,000 square feet on two floors of the building. The rest is vacant.

EB plans to hire designers and engineers to work on the next generation of ballistic-missile submarines that will replace the current fleet of Trident submarines, and to continue work on a destroyer design, EB President John P. Casey said in January.

"Our engineering business looks so robust, we will probably not have the facilities we need to accommodate the engineering staff," Casey said at the company's annual legislative update at the Mystic Marriott. "In some cases, we may modify facilities, and there are a number of options in the community we're evaluating."

When asked at the time whether EB is interested in the Pfizer facility in New London, Casey would only say that EB is "going to look in the community at a variety of options, but it's way too early to talk about any specific options."

City Councilor Michael Buscetto III said he had not heard directly from either Pfizer or EB but would not be surprised if EB moved into a portion of the Pfizer building.

"They're growing, busting at the seams,'' he said. "It's a private deal so they don't have to tell us. All we can do as a good community is market all the good things we do.''

k.edgecomb@theday.com