State officials are pitching New York City to General Electric as it shops for a possible new headquarters.
The hope is that the company will ditch Connecticut and move its headquarters back to New York, Politico reported. Officials are trying to sell the conglomerate on locations throughout the city that are nearby major tech companies, the website reported.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo promoted the state during a meeting with GE executives in July. The move could bring at least 800 employees currently working in Connecticut to New York, where 8,600 people already work at or near the Schenectady location. Relocating to New York City would also be a coming home of sorts: GE was headquartered at 570 Lexington Avenue from the 1930s to 1974.
The company started shopping around for a new location in June, after Connecticut passed a budget that would subject some of GE’s global profits to state taxes. GE officials, however, have been coy about where it plans to relocate but have said that a decision should be made by the end of the year.
GE has recently turned its focus to its manufacturing business, shedding its lending and financing operations as well as a massive real estate debt asset portfolio. Earlier this month, GE announced that Wells Fargo bought its commercial lending and leasing businesses for $32 billion. Blackstone paid $23 billion for most of GE’s real estate portfolio. [Politico] — Kathryn Brenzel