Jackson Lab revives Fla. explansion plan
The Jackson Laboratory has again proposed building a facility in Florida, after it scrapped a similar plan in January.
The Bar Harbor-based biotechnology organization is working with officials in Sarasota County to build a 120,000-square-foot facility that would study genetics-based treatments for heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's, according to a press release. Jackson Lab has partnered with the University of South Florida's Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, as well as county officials and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to develop the project. Jackson Lab would also occupy lab spaces at the USF Health complex in Tampa. The facility would anchor a "major biomedical village" that would include other research, medical and education activities, as well as residential and retail components. The hub could generate as many as 2,200 new jobs and generate $600 million per year in economic activity by 2030, according to the release.
Sarasota County officials will seek voter approval to use county funds for the project, and a referendum could be held as early as July. Should voters approve the funding, construction could begin within 12 months.
Lab officials in early January halted its plans for a $400 million facility in Florida's Collier County, after taxpayers and a private medical manufacturing firm filed lawsuits challenging use of state funds.
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