Groton ― In the midst of a local downsizing, Pfizer Inc. is trying to sell more than a dozen vacant properties near its research-and-development complex off Eastern Point Road that it is packaging into four parcels.

The vacant groupings of land, on Circle Avenue, Shennecossett Parkway and Eastern Point Road, are being sold separately for a total asking price of more than $1 million. The land encompasses a little more than 3 acres in total.

Pfizer on Thursday evening confirmed the property sales, but gave few details other than that none is part of the main R&D campus and that at one time the lots had contained houses used by Pfizer.

“As portions of the property may be of value to the community, we have offered those to the public for purchase,” Pfizer said in an email.

City Mayor Keith Hedrick said he didn’t see anything ominous in the property sales.

“I have no reason to believe Pfizer is ready to get out of here,” Hedrick said in a telephone interview Thursday.

In fact, Hedrick, who meets monthly with Pfizer officials, said he lately has been hearing about the possibility of building renovations on campus or even new construction. He said the land now up for sale had been purchased by Pfizer years ago as a buffer between residents and penicillin-manufacturing facilities that once were housed on-site.

“They’re not going to get back into pharmaceutical production,” he said. He added that Pfizer is likely “liquidating property they don’t need.”

The most expensive parcel up for sale is nearly 2 acres of land on Eastern Point Road and Shennecossett Parkway encompassing eight pieces of vacant land that is listed for $505,000. According to assessor’s records, the lots at 646, 658, 664, 670, 676, 682 and 694 Eastern Point Road and 4 Shennecossett Parkway were individually worth $457,300 the last time an assessment was done.

The second highest-priced property listed at $197,000, totaling a little more than 1 acre, bundles three vacant lots at 0, 720 and 760 Eastern Point Road. Individually, the lots in the assessor’s records are worth a total of $187,800.

The other two parcels for sale totaling 0.47 acres include contiguous lots at 69 Round Hill Road and 235 and 237 Shennecossett Parkway as well as another grouping totaling 0.74 acres at 0, 25 and 31 Circle Ave. The Circle Avenue properties are being bundled for $140,000, while the other lots are packaged for sale at $180,000.

Online listings for each of the sales indicated that bids were being taken through Jan. 11. Hedrick said it is his understanding that bids were received on at least some of them, and he expected a committee reviewing the offers would accept them. He added that he had no direct communication from Pfizer on the land sales, though the real estate agent handling the listings did contact him.

“I see no negative impact,” Hedrick said.

Hedrick added that the sale of the properties could benefit the city if new houses are built that would add to the tax base.

The Town of Groton and Pfizer settled a tax dispute last year over values placed of its R&D and manufacturing properties, saving the pharmaceutical giant $4.1 million over a five-year period. The properties are subject to both city and town taxes, and the reduction will reduce overall taxes for Pfizer by $820,000 a year.

The town said it was not made aware of buildings that Pfizer had demolished, including the huge legacy research headquarters known as Building 118.

Pfizer last year confirmed that it would be laying off an unspecified number of scientists in Groton, though it would not say how many or give any indication of the timing. The company recently started implementing the first stage of what it expects to be a $3.5 billion downsizing worldwide.

In the past, such downsizings have included the closure of entire facilities, such as Pfizer’s former World Research & Development Headquarters in New London, an office complex now occupied by Electric Boat. The 2012 round of layoffs totaling 3,000 locally were related to Pfizer’s mergers with major competitors such as Wyeth and the subsequent loss of patent protections on the heart drug Lipitor, among others.

The most recent round of layoffs has been blamed by company officials on weaker-than-expected sales for its COVID-related drugs, including Paxlovid. The company said it overestimated these drug sales by about $9 billion.

Pfizer’s stock is down nearly 40% year over year. To bolster its stock price, Pfizer recently declared a one-cent dividend increase to 42 cents a share, putting its dividend yield above 6 percent.

l.howard@theday.com