Joel Engelhardt
Tuesday noon update: Palm Beach County commissioners supported a gift of 5 acres of downtown land to Vanderbilt University, with conditions, after a presentation by Vanderbilt’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, and prime local supporter, developer Stephen Ross.
“I equate this to really what occurred in the growth of Silicon Valley, where you had Stanford, you had all the money that was coming from San Francisco, and that created Silicon Valley,” Ross said. “I believe it will occur here, as we bring these type of institutions here.”
Ross has championed the proposal that has been reported to have lined up $100 million in pledges after a fundraising event at his Palm Beach home.
The county’s conditions will be worked out in negotiations with Vanderbilt representative Harvey Oyer and be brought back to the commission for a final vote.
Here’s the story we published on Monday night, after West Palm Beach voted to donate 2 acres to Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt University is making its initial public pitch today for 5 acres of prime downtown land owned by Palm Beach County.
On Monday night, the Nashville, Tennessee-based university won initial approval from West Palm Beach to be granted two neighboring acres.
Vanderbilt wants to double the size of its business school and invest $1 billion, Nathan Green, vice chancellor for government and community relations, told West Palm commissioners.
“This is not a satellite campus. This is a second campus,” Green said. “We are passionate about the brand and who we are and what we stand for, and so, whatever we do, it’s going to be first class. That’s the way we operate in Nashville, and that’s our intent here.”
Before commissioners unanimously approved the land handoff, Green cited four “areas of aspiration” that involve working with local public schools and higher education institutions and collaborating on major policy issues, like traffic and affordable housing.
“We’re in the aspiration business,” Green said.
Six speakers supported the proposal, including Ned Grace, the developer of NORA and a Vanderbilt graduate; and Peter Marshall, a 2014 graduate, who is a young alumni trustee on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.
- The city and county properties have been valued at $42 million. They are part of Government Hill between Tamarind and Sapodilla avenues from Datura to Fern streets.
What’s new? To justify the land gift, Vanderbilt hired TXP Inc. of Austin, Texas, to perform an economic impact study. It found that building a 300,000-square-foot campus would create 5,620 jobs and cost $519 million.
The breakdown:
- $267.6 million for academic buildings.
- $217.3 million for student housing.
- $34.6 million for parking.
The university would spend $100 million per year to operate classes in business, artificial intelligence and data science and to create an “innovation hub.”
Plus, 1,000 students supported by 100 faculty would spend $18 million a year. That is based on a higher-than-average projection of $30,000 each for off-campus students and $6,000 each for those living on campus.
Citing a 2014 paper by professors at MIT and Harvard, TXP argued the impact of higher education goes beyond direct spending.
“Our estimates indicate that a 10% increase in higher education spending in an urban county increases the average worker’s income in the noneducation sector labor income by 0.8%,” the study said. “Put another way, a $1 increase in university spending generates an $0.89 increase in noneducation labor income.”
That results in an additional $33.6 million of spending in the local economy, the study says.
Of note: Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who owns 5 acres in the same area, is not part of the deal but offered good wishes in an Aug. 14 email to county commissioners:
“I want to let you know that, as the owner of the adjacent property and as one of the biggest taxpayers in Palm Beach County, I support the county donating this land to Vanderbilt, provided that this donation is contingent on a campus with a minimum number of students and a minimum investment in buildings by Vanderbilt.”
Click here to read more about Greene’s role in the failed deal to bring the University of Florida to downtown.
What’s next: Palm Beach County Commission considers Vanderbilt’s proposal at its meeting starting at 9:30 this morning. Click here to watch.
Joel is a founder, reporter and editor at Stet News. His award-winning newspaper career spanned more than 40 years, including 28 years at The Palm Beach Post, which he left in 2020. Joel lives with his wife in Palm Beach Gardens. He volunteers on the board of NAMI Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society.
