Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is nearing completion of an agreement to lease a data center building on its massive campus in Groton, Connecticut, to the state government.

The company has been clearing the building in anticipation of leasing it to the state's Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology, the agency that provides technology services to the government's executive branch, The Day reported.

Pfizer is consolidating its 160-acre campus in Groton, demolishing some buildings and repurposing others. All in all, the company reportedly plans to shrink the campus down to two-thirds of its current size.

Jeffrey Beckham, a state spokesman, told The Day that the bureau's current data center had to be replaced. “The state's current data center is in a leased facility that no longer serves the state's purposes, and a cost-efficient alternative is required,” he was quoted as saying.

The government had asked for a request for proposals that specified a 15,000 sq ft data center in the past. Beckam said repurposing Pfizer's data center, which would involve minor changes for energy efficiency and layout reconfiguration, was a cheaper alternative to building a new one.

As of 5 September, when The Day's article was published, the lease was still being negotiated.