Gillette leaving Southie.

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stellarfun

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Gillette moving its manufacturing operation to Andover. About 750 R&D jobs slated to remain in Boston. Appears that most of the 31 acres owned by Gillette will be re-developed.

www.bostonglobe.com

After more than a century of blade-making, Gillette set to end manufacturing in South Boston - The Boston Globe

The company will move its production facility to Andover, though about 750 corporate jobs will stay at Fort Point headquarters.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

“We have over 30 acres of gated, half-used car parks and half-used buildings [in South Boston],” Coombe [senior Gillette official] said. “We have the opportunity now, working closely with the community, to reimagine a much brighter future with housing, climate resilient development, waterfront parks, jobs and economic growth. I think that it’s a great opportunity for the city. We’re going to be proud to be remaining at the center of that in the future.”

Jemison [BPDA director] said in a prepared statement. “We see their expansion of manufacturing off-site as a major opportunity to reimagine how their property can better serve South Boston and the City long term. We look forward to working closely with Gillette and the community to ensure the planning and design process delivers more market and affordable housing, public open space, resilience, and thousands of construction and permanent jobs for the South Boston neighborhood.”
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Not surprised they are leaving, but Andover?

Such a primo spot that you could do a lot there.
 
I imagine increasing flood risk is a big motivator for moving manufacturing operations elsewhere.
 
jklo said:
Not surprised they are leaving, but Andover?

Such a primo spot that you could do a lot there.
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Gillette (P&G) has had a major manufacturing operation in Andover for some time. They have been steadily moving jobs from South Boston to Andover (and Mexico) for more than a decade.

The Gillett Andover site predates the P&G acquisition, and historically made the Gillette chemical/non-razor personal care products (shave cream, deodorant, etc.)
 
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JeffDowntown said:
Gillette (P&G) has had a major manufacturing operation in Andover for some time. They have been steadily moving jobs from South Boston to Andover (and Mexico) for more than a decade.

The Gillett Andover site predates the P&G acquisition, and historically made the Gillette chemical/non-razor personal care products (shave cream, deodorant, etc.)
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Makes a lot more sense than being in Southie, particularly given the potential windfall from the land. They'll be sorry they didn't do this five years ago, though.

Why not just grab the already completed GE buildings?

Also, any redevelopment of the whole site needs to keep the sign...
 
Equilibria said:
Makes a lot more sense than being in Southie, particularly given the potential windfall from the land. They'll be sorry they didn't do this five years ago, though.

Why not just grab the already completed GE buildings?
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I think what kept them in place in Southie this long is the extensive investments they made in the plant for autonomous, precision manufacturing of razor cartridges. Those manufacturing lines must have reached their design life, and hence time to move elsewhere, rather than renew them on site.
 
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My recollection for why Gillette continued to have a very large manufacturing plant in South Boston was because the plant functioned as a test-bed for highly automated, manufacturing methods, machines, and processes developed by the R&D engineers. The engineers' offices are literally next door. Andover is close enough to serve as a test-bed; Mexico City, Berlin, and other factories around the world do not.

The Globe article mentioned speculation that Gillette might move the R&D and corporate to another Boston location, which would free the entire 31 acres for re-development.
 
I can't believe that they still operated a significant manufacturing operation so close to a city core, and an expensive city core at that. I bet developers have been drilling at their kneecaps to get their hands on that parcel. I am also surprised that the site has been so active this long after the acquisition by P&G. I thought that place would be long gone by now.
 
Czervik.Construction said:
I can't believe that they still operated a significant manufacturing operation so close to a city core, and an expensive city core at that. I bet developers have been drilling at their kneecaps to get their hands on that parcel. I am also surprised that the site has been so active this long after the acquisition by P&G. I thought that place would be long gone by now.
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The higher tech the manufacturing, the more need to be near a tech center.

Gillett's razor cartridge manufacturing is amazingly high tech.

We still have some smaller scale bio-pharma manufacturing near the core.
 
The fort point channel has so much potential, its gonna be awesome to see how it comes into its own over the next decade. I feel like the fort point of today is kind of like the waterfront of the early 2000’s, tons of untapped potential that with the right masterplan/developers/vision could really turn into another indispensable gem of Bostons waterfront. Ive always held out hope that it could kind of turn into a mini amsterdam style neighborhood with tons of retail and shops facing the channel with cozy architecture, but thats probably not gonna happen. Itll probably end up more like the Oslo waterfront and thats okay too. Either way cant wait to watch it happen.
 
stick n move said:
The fort point channel has so much potential, its gonna be awesome to see how it comes into its own over the next decade. I feel like the fort point of today is kind of like the waterfront of the early 2000’s, tons of untapped potential that with the right masterplan/developers/vision could really turn into another indispensable gem of Bostons waterfront. Ive always held out hope that it could kind of turn into a mini amsterdam style neighborhood with tons of retail and shops facing the channel with cozy architecture, but thats probably not gonna happen. Itll probably end up more like the Oslo waterfront and thats okay too. Either way cant wait to watch it happen.
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This is Boston were talking about. Set your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed.
 
stick n move said:
The fort point channel has so much potential, its gonna be awesome to see how it comes into its own over the next decade. I feel like the fort point of today is kind of like the waterfront of the early 2000’s, tons of untapped potential that with the right masterplan/developers/vision could really turn into another indispensable gem of Bostons waterfront. Ive always held out hope that it could kind of turn into a mini amsterdam style neighborhood with tons of retail and shops facing the channel with cozy architecture, but thats probably not gonna happen. Itll probably end up more like the Oslo waterfront and thats okay too. Either way cant wait to watch it happen.
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I've thought that 10-20 years from now, the Fort Point Channel could feel a bit like Dublin along River Liffey in the docklands area. The new Lilly building feels like something that would be at home there. E.g.

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