County closes on Mecca Farms
South Florida Business Journal - by Brian Bandell,
Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Palm Beach County closed on the $60 million purchase of Mecca Farms, Tuesday, as part of its agreement to building a research park for the Scripps Research Institute there.

The county paid $31,000 an acre to Lantana Farms Associates for the former citrus farm. The Mecca family had bought the property for $6,000 an acre in 1983.

But lawsuits mean construction won't start any time soon. County commissioners voted to delay building Scripps' facility on the 1,919-acre site west of Palm Beach Gardens in the face of suits from environmentalists seeking to move the 8 million-square-foot project.

Four lawsuits are pending and the county expects more to be filed in coming months.

While the county continues to consider alternate sites from Scripps, board members of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County voted unanimously on Friday to support keeping the project on Mecca Farms.

"Allowing environmental groups to set public policy ... faults the judicial review process and relinquishes future decisions regarding bio-scientific companies' expansion plans into our county to the whims and desires of the same litigants," the board said.

The BDB directors strongly encouraged county commissioners to apply for building permits to construct the Scripps facilities.

The board argued for its position, stating:

• It is inappropriate to continue public debate of alternate sites as a strategy to appease litigators.
• Scripps has a contract with Palm Beach County to locate on the Mecca site and the county commission offered to buy the Mecca property to entice Scripps as early as Oct. 14, 2003.
• When Scripps selected Palm Beach County, its decision was partially based on the promise of being within a "technology village" where scientists could live, work and relax near their labs. "This was an advantage that Palm Beach County had over other competing counties and plans drawn on the Mecca property included a great deal of input from Scripps," the board said.
• The Florida Legislature's $310 million allocation for incentives was based on the governor's vision of capturing a life science cluster with the potential of 44,000 jobs statewide. "Repayment of the public's costs of development of the alternative cluster sites and capturing the greatest employment opportunities for county residents are questionable if the county pursues smaller sites," the board said.
• Mecca is the only site that provides a return on the investment of Palm Beach County taxpayers and is the most affordable per acre. "The cost per acre of alternate sites will be exorbitant for future educational institutions, hospitals or corporations, thereby constraining realization of maximum economic growth and public returns," the board said.
• The county has already expended time and money on the Mecca site.