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Southeast Florida Business Briefs - Jan. 2006
BOCA RATON --
? Neiman Marcus has opened a 140,000-sq.-ft. store at the Town Center mall on Glades Road in Boca Raton. It is the Dallas-based retailer's seventh location in south Florida.
DANIA BEACH --
? South Florida's first "rackominium" -- a dry dock storage facility for recreational boats where each slip is privately owned -- has opened here. Slips at the Dania Beach Boat Club range from about $75,000 to $300,000.
DEERFIELD BEACH --
? Devcon International Corp. (Nasdaq- DEVC) has emerged as a major player in Florida's electronic security industry with its acquisition of Boca Raton-based Coastal Security Co. and Hollywood-based Guardian International. The deals were valued at $50.4 million and $65.5 million, respectively.
DELRAY BEACH --
? The first Delray Beach International Film Festival will take place March 8-12 in downtown Delray Beach. The event will include more than 100 feature films, shorts, documentaries and student productions.
FORT LAUDERDALE --
? Recreational boat maker SeaStrike Boats will move its manufacturing operation to Perry in north Florida, where it will hire an estimated 150 people. Privately owned SeaStrike, which will remain headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, has made no announcement on local layoffs.
HOLLYWOOD --
? For the second year in a row, Memorial Regional Hospital has received the 2005/2006 Consumer Choice Award for Most Preferred Hospital/Overall Quality & Image from the National Research Corp. in its annual Healthcare Market Guide study.
PALM BEACH COUNTY --
? Seattle, Wash.-based NeoRx Corp., a cancer therapeutics development company, has become the first biotechnology company to enter into a research alliance with Scripps Florida. NeoRx will provide $2.5 million over 26 months to support the research and will have the option to negotiate a worldwide exclusive license to any compounds developed through the collaboration...
? A federal judge has complicated plans for the Scripps Research Institute complex at the Mecca Farms site in western Palm Beach County after ruling that roads and other infrastructure cannot be built until completion of an environmental review by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. That could delay construction up to two years. Environmental groups oppose construction at the site, fearing it will threaten surrounding ecosystems and complicate Everglades restoration.
PALM BEACH GARDENS --
? Downtown at the Gardens, the long-awaited entertainment and retail development on 60 acres in northern Palm Beach County, has officially opened. With restaurants, movie theaters and a variety of retailers, local officials hope the $500-million project will compete with West Palm Beach's CityPlace as an outdoor destination mall.
SUNRISE --
? Shareholders of Sunrise-based Mayors Jewelers have approved a merger with Montreal's Henry Birks & Sons. Mayors operates 28 stores in Florida and Georgia. The combined companies will be known as Birks & Mayors.
WEST PALM BEACH --
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Hallandale Beach-based developer SWP Palm Beach has announced plans for a 677-unit affordable housing complex off Congress Avenue northwest of downtown West Palm Beach. Prices at The Lakes at Palm Beach will start at just under $300,000.
