Press Releases

MANN RESEARCH CENTER, LLC AND CORE COMMUNITIES FINALIZE DEAL FOR 22-ACRE LIFE SCIENCES COMPLEX

Mann Research Center, LLC has finalized its purchase of a 22-acre parcel in the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition (FCI), on which it intends to build a 400,000-square-foot life sciences complex.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Jan. 4, 2008) – Mann Research Center, LLC has finalized its purchase of a 22-acre parcel in the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition (FCI), on which it intends to build a 400,000-square-foot life sciences complex.

Plans call for the site, just north of the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies and west of the proposed Martin Memorial Health Systems campus, to one day house six, two- to four-story buildings. The complex will include 100,000 square feet of medical office space and 300,000 square feet of research and development facilities, with a small amount of support retail.

Construction on the first phase is scheduled to begin in late 2008, and total development costs are expected to be approximately $100 million.

"We're tremendously excited about the future of the Florida Center for Innovation and the development of a life sciences cluster along Florida's Research Coast," said John DelRusso, president of Mann Research Center. "Our proximity to the Torrey Pines Institute, the proposed hospital campus and a newly announced hotel, combined with the commitment the local community and the state of Florida have already shown to the life sciences sector, makes this one of the most exciting locations we've seen anywhere in the country."

The complex will be jointly marketed nationally by Grubb & Ellis and SLC Commercial to life sciences organizations and associated companies interested in the region's fast-growing biotech market. Mann Research Center is a single-purpose LLC formed by noted biotech entrepreneur and philanthropist Alfred E. Mann to develop the life sciences complex in Tradition.

"The Mann Research Center will play a large role in our development plans for the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition," said Pete Hegener, president of Tradition developer Core Communities. "Their decision to join our community speaks to the tremendous growth we've seen over the last several years, and to the potential for this area to quickly develop a world-class life sciences cluster."

The Florida Center for Innovation is a 120-acre research park under development in the 8,300-acre Tradition master-planned community in western Port St. Lucie. Located just west of the intersection of Interstate 95 and Tradition Parkway, FCI has already gained national prominence as the future home of the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies headquarters. For more information, visit www.innovationflorida.com.

Core Communities is the community development subsidiary of The Levitt Corporation (NYSE: LEV). Core Communities' mission is to create and develop master-planned total-living community environments in Florida and throughout the southeastern United States. Core Communities is headquartered in Port St. Lucie at Tradition Station, 10521 S.W. Village Center Drive, Suite 201, Port St. Lucie, FL, 34987. Visit Core Communities on the Internet at http://www.corecommunities.com