Procter & Gamble to put high-profile land in Fort Point on the market

Procter & Gamble is selling a 6.5-acre parcel located on the Gillette factory complex in Fort Point.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Gillette parent Procter & Gamble is looking to cash in on the hot real estate market in the neighborhood around its razor factory in Fort Point.

Emboldened by the success of two relatively small land transactions, P&G has decided to put up a for-sale sign on a 6.5-acre section of the giant parking lot the company owns along A Street. Until now, P&G officials have generally expressed a reluctance to sell large chunks of the company’s 40-acre South Boston campus.

P&G has made some land deals in the past. It sold roughly 2.7 acres, including a piece of the A Street lot and two brick buildings, for use as General Electric’s new headquarters nearly two years ago.

P&G also sold a 10,000-square-foot lot at the end of Athens Street to Transom Real Estate in May, and in June sold a 30,000-square-foot building and adjacent quarter-acre lot off A Street to Langwater Capital and Anchor Line Investments, spokeswoman Kara Buckley said. The intense interest in those small lots prompted P&G executives to rethink their strategy of holding onto space the company doesn’t expect it will need in the near future, she said.

“It was eye opening, listing the small parcels,” Buckley said. “It caused us to step back and consider what we really needed for the future.”

GE plans to move into the renovated brick buildings on Necco Court from nearby temporary offices by the end of next year.

The corporate executives could soon have new neighbors. Buckley said it’s possible the 6.5 acres next door to GE’s future home base could be used for a range of uses such as offices, labs, shops, housing, and open space.

“We see this as a great opportunity for the neighborhood,” Buckley said.

P&G has hired brokerage JLL to market the property, which could accommodate more than 1 million square feet of development.

Meanwhile, another 750-plus surface lot spaces could soon disappear. The parking area that is up for grabs stretches from A Street to the Fort Point channel, north of Binford Street.

Despite the real estate moves, Gillette’s main operations aren’t going anywhere. Gillette has been making blades at the property for more than a century, and Buckley said the company expects it will continue to play an important role for P&G into the future.