P&G, Stamford Reach Agreement on $16M Property Sale

If the deal closes, the company will shift some of its manufacturing personnel to its corporate headquarters building at 1 Blachley Rd. The site is not part of the sales deal with the city and is not on the market for sale, Gingras adds. The two sides hope the property sales deal can close by June 2005.

The city is looking to acquire the property in order to develop an inter-district magnet school for approximately 600 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The school would be open to students living in Stamford as well as from surrounding communities, Mayor Dannel Malloy says.

The city's school system has a pending application for an inter-district magnet school before the State Board of Education. The mayor says the application is much stronger now that the city has a proposed site for the magnet school. If the application is granted, the State of Connecticut could be funding anywhere from 80% to 95% of the property acquisition and construction costs of the venture.

"You don't get an opportunity to buy 19-acre parcels of land in the City of Stamford too often," the mayor notes. The magnet school project would involve the rehabilitation of the Clairol manufacturing building, as well as an additional 80,000 sf to 100,000 sf of new construction.

In addition to approval by the State Board of Education, several city boards must also give the green light to the project after environmental reviews of the property are complete. The property sales deal also keeps Clairol's headquarters in the city. Company officials report that the firm will be reducing its manufacturing workforce in the city by 285 positions over the next three years. The firm employs more than 700 workers in Stamford, including approximately 550 in manufacturing. The workforce reductions will be achieved mainly through attrition and retirement, Clairol says.