Scripps could revive once-hot housing market in northern Palm Beach County

by Paul Owers

02/15/06

Tuesday's decision to build Scripps Florida in Jupiter could put some sizzle back into a once-hot housing market, at least in northern Palm Beach County.

"I don't think people in north county will have to worry about their values decreasing," Palm Beach Gardens real estate agent Peter Reed said.

"It'll jump-start a market that has stalled," added Jupiter agent Rebel Cook.

She expects more interest in Jupiter-area homes, but was quick to point out that not even Scripps will cause prices to appreciate at the record pace of the past few years.

"They won't decrease, but they won't go up 30 to 70 percent the way they were," Cook said. "Buyers reach a point where they say, `No, I'm not going to pay that.'"

Palm Beach County commissioners voted 4-3 to put the $600 million biotech giant on Florida Atlantic University's Abacoa campus in Jupiter and the neighboring Briger property in Palm Beach Gardens. FAU, Gov. Jeb Bush's Cabinet and other groups still need to approve the county's choice.

Commissioners rejected a late bid from Boca Raton to have Scripps on land that once housed IBM. South county officials predicted that Scripps' arrival would have sent property values in and near Boca Raton soaring.

Instead, it's the north county that stands to benefit. And it's not just housing; Scripps will attract more office and retail developments to the area, brokers say.

"I have one commercial broker in my office, and he can't get off the phone," said Lynn Byrd, of Illustrated Properties in Jupiter. "People are calling and looking to find space and buy property."

Palm Beach Gardens developer Bruce Rendina spent more than two years pitching Abacoa as the best place for Scripps.

He and partner George de Guardiola built the shops and restaurants that make up Abacoa Town Center. They also own about 100 acres inside the 2,055-acre Abacoa development, just off Interstate 95 at Donald Ross Road.

Unlike other sites that need government approval, Abacoa has 1 million square feet ready to go, Rendina said.

In 2003, he pledged $1 million to entice Scripps to the development but eventually withdrew the offer when Scripps and county officials dismissed the Jupiter site as too small.

"We were very frustrated back then," Rendina said Tuesday. "Abacoa, we always knew, was the right place. It was designed for this type of project. For all the wrong reasons, it got sidetracked. Thank God it's back to where it needs to be."

Dyadic International, a biotech company in Jupiter, is building a 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Abacoa. Rendina and de Guardiola will try to lure 10 to 20 more biotech companies to their Research and Business Park inside Abacoa.

***