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Sights set on two Scripps sites

The research institute likes its spot at FAU, but Palm Beach County - which is paying - has another plan.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published December 9, 2005

The ball is back in Palm Beach County's court in its long-running site selection saga with Scripps Research Institute.

Responding to a move by county commissioners last month to abandon construction on the long-planned Mecca Farms site on the county's western edge, Scripps on Wednesday rejected the commissioners' alternative, Florida Research Park, an industrial park about two miles north of Mecca.

Instead, Scripps said it wants to make its East Coast home at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, where it already has 160 researchers at work in a temporary building.

As one slightly soured commissioner said, if it were Scripps' money at stake, that would be the end of it.

But the purse strings of the Scripps Florida project, first announced in 2003, are held by the public.

Palm Beach County has promised to ante up more than $200-million to build Scripps' Florida campus.

And Florida has agreed to underwrite its operations to the tune of an additional $369-million.

So the site debate, which has all the momentum of a slow-motion tennis match, continues.

If Scripps gets its wish, the big winners will be environmentalists who challenged the Mecca site, saying it would unlock urban sprawl in a protected rural area. A judge's ruling forced the county to halt construction on Mecca last month, citing errors in permitting by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Though more than $105-million in county funds have already been spent on the site, officials are confident they'll be able to sell the property for $200-million or more if it is abandoned by Scripps.

The other winner will be FAU, headed by former lieutenant governor Frank Brogan. From its role as temporary host to Scripps, the 40-year-old university will move to long-term neighbor, basking in the reflected glory of one of the world's most prestigious research institutions.

"We're a long way from the goal line, but at least it's in our sight," Brogan said Thursday.

Potential losers include Brogan's old boss, Gov. Jeb Bush, who long pushed for the Mecca site, insisting that the 2,000-acre parcel was critical for maximizing Scripps' impact. Bush has touted the recruiting of Scripps as his greatest single achievement as governor and on Thursday he reiterated his belief in the importance of the project.

"I think we've got about a month to get this right and work on these issues of extra cost and who's going to pay for them," he said.

"In the interim, I hope people realize it (Scripps) is vitally important for our state to diversify our economy."

But Bush was not yet ready to call the FAU site a certainty, suggesting that the county's alternative, Florida Research Park, still looked like a better choice.

"We're still waiting to get some acknowledgement of how much additional commercial space is available (at FAU)," Bush said. "There's a lot of hopeful talk but if it's not enough space, that creates a problem."

Also in a potentially less lucrative position with Scripps' move from Mecca are two giant developers, Lennar Corp. and Centex Homes, which have plans for a 9,000-home community on an adjacent parcel.

But the homebuilders are not yet calling it quits.

As Clinton Glass, senior vice president at Centex Construction, said Thursday, "It's probably far from a done deal."

FAU wants $59-million in exchange for giving 70 acres of its 135-acre Jupiter campus to Scripps. Some commissioners have bristled at that price tag, saying FAU got the land for free. Furthermore, the donation came with restrictions that it only be used for a public university, raising the issue of whether Scripps would qualify.

There are high-voltage power lines at FAU that need to be buried and no one seems eager to pick up the tab. And county officials are still trying to figure out if there is enough space in the Jupiter area to create the promised biotech cluster.

Bush has insisted there be a minimum of 8-million square feet available, though he recently allowed that it could be in the "vicinity" of Scripps and not necessarily on the same parcel.

Proponents of the FAU site have tallied up a potential 15-million square-feet available for biotech, including 1-million square feet right across the street from FAU in Abacoa, a mixed-used development that includes shops, town homes and a baseball stadium.

Dissenters question that figure, saying zoning issues could easily pare that number dramatically.

Next Tuesday, Palm Beach County commissioners will meet to discuss the latest volley from Scripps.

Chairman Tony Masilotti sounded confident that obstacles will be overcome and a Scripps FAU site will win approval of the seven-member board.

"If it lets the people of Florida and Palm Beach County benefit from medical research and jobs, I think the board will be very supportive of moving in that direction," he said.

Richard Grosso, general counsel with the Environmental and Land Use Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, which led the charge against the Mecca site, tried not to gloat over the possibility of overturning what appeared to be a done deal two years ago.

"It sometimes takes time and difficulty to create the circumstances where the right thing can happen," said Grosso, whose group supports a Scripps campus at FAU.

"But we're poised for incredibly great things to happen."

Times staff writer Joni James contributed to this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.

[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:18:14]