BIOTECH BUZZ FAILS TO ATTRACT BUSINESSES

BYLINE: Jeff Ostrowski

Scripps effect? What Scripps effect?

Despite the political attention heaped on The Scripps Research Institute, the local biotech industry remains tiny.

Glenn E. Straub of Straub Capital Corp. in West Palm Beach is developing an industrial project in Palm Beach Gardens' biotech district, but he has yet to hear a peep from biotech tenants interested in taking space near Scripps' labs in Jupiter.

"Quite frankly, we've seen no effect at all," Straub said.

To be fair, biotech boosters acknowledge it'll take years to build the industry here.

Even as Straub hears little interest from the biotech industry, Florida Research Park continues to position itself for biotech companies. In the latest move, a 110,000-square-foot industrial building going up at the property will include 60,000 square feet of potential wet lab space.

Stereo equipment distributor Audio America owns the building and will occupy 50,000 square feet of it, company President Tony Aniano said.

He plans to move his 45 employees from Riviera Beach to the park along Beeline Highway next year, and he's looking for tenants for the rest of the space.

Florida Research Park unsuccessfully tried to land Scripps' headquarters and even changed its name from Palm Beach Park of Commerce.

The Grand Bank Building at 3601 PGA Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens recently sold for $462 a square foot, one of the richest deals in South Florida's frothy office market.

The 45,495-square-foot complex fetched $21 million. The previous sale was in 2005 for $16 million.

The buyer was a family that splits its time between Boca Raton and New York, said broker Neil Merin of Merin Hunter Codman.

"It shows you the value people impart to PGA," Merin said of the hefty price.

A similarly sized office property on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach recently fetched $600 a square foot, but this price represents a high-water mark for the mainland, Merin said.

With record-setting deals happening regularly, Boca Raton developer Phil Procacci has a little advice for others in his industry: Stop complaining and enjoy the lucrative boom.

Procacci was among a panel of developers who spoke at a recent meeting of the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens.

While the focus was on the regulatory hurdles developers face, Procacci refused to whine about delayed permits, costly impact fees, soaring property taxes or usurious insurance bills.

"This is not the time to cry," Procacci said. "This is a great time in our business." After all, he noted, developers and brokers are making "a lot of money" right now.

Another noteworthy comment from the association's event: The downtown land boom is over. In downtown West Palm Beach, buyers had been throwing money at landowners, but those days are over, at least for several years, said Angelo Bianco of Crocker Partners Florida.

With the condo market glutted, CityPlace Tower soaking up demand for offices and a convention center hotel finally slated, there's no need to snap up downtown property for redevelopment, Bianco said.

Jeff Ostrowski writes about commercial real estate and economic development. Contact him at The Palm Beach Post, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, Fla. 33416-4700; (561) 820-4581; or jeff_ostrowski@pbpost.com