Scripps, institution continue negotiations
PALM BEACH -- The Scripps Research Institute and the Max Planck Society of Germany are continuing negotiations to bring the European research institution to Palm Beach County, according to Dr. Richard Lerner, Scripps president, following a Scripps board meeting Monday at The Breakers.
"I know everyone thought there would be an announcement today," said Lerner, a resident of Jupiter Island and La Jolla, Calif. "But there isn't one."
The Palm Beach County Commission voted in February to locate Scripps Florida to the Florida Atlantic University campus in Abacoa. Scripps Research Institute is based in La Jolla.
The decision prompted more bioscience area announcements, including the Burnham Institute for Medical Research move to Orlando and Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies to St. Lucie County.
Attracting the Max Planck Society to the North County Life Science Corridor, which has Jupiter as its northernmost locale, could add to the area's biotech attraction.
Douglas Bingham, Scripps executive vice president, said that during the trustees meeting, "the Max Planck Society made its presentation, updating us on the society's negotiations with Gov. Jeb Bush." He referred further comment to the Max Planck Society.
Bush's office refused to discuss negotiations between the state and the multi-national society, which does basic research in science and the humanities.
The Max Planck Society, named for the Nobel-winning physicist Max Planck, is the successor to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the advancement of science. The Max Planck Society was founded in Gottingen, Germany, in 1948.
It maintains 78 institutes and employs about 12,400 people. About 82 percent of the society's approximately $1.8 billion annual budget is provided by the German government, with the remaining amount coming from donations to the nonprofit organization.
If the Max Planck Society comes to Jupiter, it could have several possible locations: in Abacoa's workplace sector, in the Jupiter Falls area on Indiantown Road, or on the Briger
site in Palm Beach Gardens.
Shannon LaRoche, Palm Beach County program manager for Scripps, said the county won't be closing on the 70 acres of the Briger property earmarked for Scripps until Nov. 22, and then Scripps Florida won't have any rights to use this property for its own use until the institute has a ground lease.
"Scripps won't be able to have a ground lease until the county obtains the development approvals, and that won't occur for another year," LaRoche said.
She said the 70 acres is specifically earmarked for leasing to Scripps, and couldn't be built upon by another company and that about 100 designated biotech acres of the surrounding 700 acres on the Briger site along Donald Ross Road, could be utilized by an institute such as the Max Planck Society that wanted to be in close proximity to Scripps Florida.