Originally named Kodak Park when construction began in 1891, the site, based in Rochester, New York, became home to Kodak’s photographic and motion picture film manufacturing activities.
At its peak more than 15,000 employees worked at the 1,200-acre site across around 150 buildings.
In the 1990s Kodak began to to take on tenants, many of whom were suppliers to the manufacturer.
Kodak scrapped a number of buildings between 2000 and 2007 due to the decline of its film manufacturing operations, and renamed the site Eastman Kodak Park in 2008 as it sought to attract more outside tenants to occupy unused buildings.
During 2012 and 2013, following its descent into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Kodak began formally selling off areas of the industrial park and now owns around 900 acres of the site. It was during this time that it emerged the EBP had been home to a secret nuclear reactor under Building 82 in the park’s research complex, prior to its dismantling in 2007.
The site, which is currently home to around 50 tenants, is now due to be marketed for sale to a developer or group of developers that will continue its transformation into a diverse hub for research and development and high tech manufacturing, the company said.
Announcing the intention to sell the park Jeff Clarke, Kodak’s new chief executive who took over from Antonio Perez earlier this month, said: “Eastman Business Park is already on the path to becoming a powerful economic growth engine for our region and a vibrant center of invention to several technology sectors.
“A strong new owner will expedite that process. At the same time, Kodak needs to focus on what it does best: innovating and delivering superior solutions to customers around the world. Selling EBP is the right move for the right reasons at the right time.”
Kodak's corporate communications manager Chris Veronda told PrintWeek that a target price for the site would not be divulged.
"The real focus of this deal is to allow Kodak to focus on its commercial imaging activities, not real estate development. It's not so much about generating funds, though that will be one outcome indeed, but like any smart company today it's about focusing our resources on our core business," he added.
Once it is sold Kodak will retain its manufacturing and R&D operations at the park, including the production of films for touch screen sensors, but will become a paying tenant.
Veronda said: "Kodak still maintains and will maintain a wide range of operations, encompassing manufacturing, research and development and business operations.
"There are two separate facilities being constructed at the site that will make metal mesh film for touch screen sensors under our collaborations with Unipixel and Kingsbury and those facilities will go into commercial operation in coming months."
