Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Scripps' search sets off a frenzy

The research institute, now at a temporary site, says it is willing to go just about anywhere in Palm Beach County.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published January 10, 2006

It's not often that a public official compares her governing body to a bunch of clowns. But Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty may have been painfully honest last week when she said the board's ongoing debate about a permanent site for Scripps Research Institute is looking like a circus act.

McCarty, one of the more contentious members of the highly fractious seven-member group, said the free-for-all reminded her of the stunt where performers run around, frantically keeping plates spinning atop poles.

"Right now the county has the plates spinning, and it's Florida Research Park, Mecca, Boca and Abacoa. Little by little, the plates will start falling and we'll know what's left."

Taxpayers who are coughing up more than $500-million in public money for Scripps' new home might have hoped the decision would be shaped by more than mere gravity. But more than two years after Gov. Jeb Bush announced the deal to lure Scripps to Florida, setting off a frenzy of real estate wrangling and political back-biting, exhaustion may have set in.

Construction at the originally designated site, the 1,900-acre Mecca Farms in western Palm Beach County, was halted by a federal judge in November after a lawsuit by environmentalists.

Scripps is currently operating out of a temporary lab on Florida Atlantic University's Abacoa campus in Jupiter, where it has about 150 scientists and support staff. In December, Scripps said that with the Mecca site out of the running, it preferred to stay in Jupiter, off Interstate 95 in north Palm Beach County.

But the majority of county commissioners supported Florida Research Park, 12 miles west of Jupiter, as a better alternative to Mecca. The commission refused to go along with Scripps' preference in Jupiter, saying it was too costly and didn't have enough available land nearby for much-touted ancillary development.

Scripps, headquartered in La Jolla, Calif., effectively waved the white flag last week, telling county commissioners the research institute is willing to go just about anywhere in the county, as long as it meets the requirements of its contract with the state.

In a letter Jan. 4, Scripps' chief operating officer Douglas A. Bingham wrote, "In an effort to break this apparent logjam on site selection and as a gesture of our goodwill, we want you to know that we are willing to locate Phase I of the Scripps Florida permanent facilities on the Mecca site, the FAU site, or on any other site in Palm Beach County."

Those words sparked a frenzy of activity among both existing and new site contenders. Officials at FAU in Abacoa dramatically reduced their estimates of what it would cost to do the project, and supporters scrambled to prove they could meet one criteria demanded by Bush: that Scripps' permanent campus have at least 8-million square feet nearby to accommodate additional biotech development.

Owners of the 1,245-acre Florida Research Park, meanwhile, hustled to sweeten their development proposal for the county, tossing in amenities like coffee shops and a deli for Scripps' scientists, as well as an extended-stay hotel on the property.

"We'll build it; we'll pay for it; we'll manage it," said park spokeswoman Anita Mitchell, who put no price tag on the developer-financed extras. "I think it's a package that can't be refused."

Then came a startling suggestion that the state consider a site straddling Palm Beach and Broward counties. On Friday, officials in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Deerfield Beach flew to Lakeland to pitch the governor on their tri-city area as a potential home for Scripps. They were accompanied by Ned Siegel, an influential developer and one of Bush's top campaign fundraisers.

The new proposal, which has not yet been formally reviewed by the county, suggests that Scripps and related biotech ventures would have plenty of space to grow between the former IBM campus on Boca's Yamato Road and the Arvida Park of Commerce along Congress Avenue. No further details on the cost or specific parcels in the proposal were available Monday, but it drew an enthusiastic response from Palm Beach Commissioner Addie Greene, who has been a pivotal swing vote on past Scripps' votes.

"It's kind of frightening for something all of a sudden to come up and be just perfect and no one thought of it before," Greene said.

As powerful coastal cities lined up for their chance at the Scripps' bonanza, one rural community also joined the stampede. The city manager of Belle Glade was reportedly preparing a proposal for consideration of that city as Scripps' Florida headquarters. No further details were available Monday about how Belle Glade proposes to trade its economy, now based on sugar cane and bass fishing, for one based on research science and biotech.

The Palm Beach County Commission may consider the growing number of site options at its regularly scheduled meeting today.

Meanwhile, Scripps' board of scientific governors, which offers the institute's executive board direction and advice, will meet at the Breakers in Palm Beach this week. Though the scientists' meetings will be closed to the public, one of Scripps' founding immunologists will be offering free lectures in Palm Beach County about the history of the institute in California, where it started 45 years ago.

--Information from Times wires was used in this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.

[Last modified January 10, 2006, 01:51:15]