Jeff Greene: UF offered to name West Palm graduate school after me. 'A deal's a deal.'
The University of Florida in early 2022 offered to name a proposed West Palm Beach graduate school after Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene in recognition of downtown land he planned to donate toward a campus, according to a letter Greene provided to The Palm Beach Post on Monday.
But during the past year, Greene's requirements for the donation met with resistance from UF, which decided to try to buy the property instead, Greene said.
Negotiations on a sale subsequently took place for several months in 2022, but the deal fell apart late last year, according to a Jan. 31 letter sent to Greene by former UF President Kent Fuchs.
Now both sides are at a stalemate, and the campus plan is in peril.
Previous story: Is University of Florida's grad school campus in West Palm Beach in peril?
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In a Jan. 31, 2023, letter to Greene, Fuchs warned that time was short to save the West Palm Beach campus.
"We expect the window of opportunity for investment by the state of Florida in the campus will soon close if we aren’t able to finalize the land," Fuchs wrote Greene.
Another key player in the proposed campus, Stephen Ross, the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins football team and chairman of Related Cos., also is worried.
"It's in terrible trouble," Ross said.
In an interview on Monday, Ross said he first initiated discussions in early 2021 with UF to build a campus downtown, and Ross confirmed he personally pledged $50 million to UF for the campus.
"This campus is so good for this city in terms of the future, what it will bring here for growth and jobs," said Ross, whose Related Cos. is the largest owner of Class A office space downtown, with plans for more offices.
People close to the state's flagship university are urging UF to seize Greene's land in a legal action known as eminent domain to save the whole 12-acre campus plan, according to real estate sources familiar with those talks.
On Monday, Greene said he is aware of the discussions and has been assured by UF Board Chairman Morteza "Mori" Hoesseini that UF would never take such an action.
"I still just want to be a donor and make this happen for our wonderful community, and just do the deal that the University of Florida offered and we accepted," Greene said. "They offered it. We accepted it ... A deal's a deal."
Greene added that any effort to seize his land would look bad for the university. "Is the state going to be in the business of taking private property?" he said.
Nevertheless, people close to UF said the university's board of trustees could designate Greene's land as an educational campus, thereby paving the way for a quick taking of the property. The UF board of trustees is slated to meet in March.
UF campus in West Palm got a quick jumpstart with key land commitments
The Palm Beach Post reported on Feb. 15 that a University of Florida graduate school campus planned for 12 acres in the heart of West Palm Beach is in limbo because of a standoff between UF and Greene over naming rights for his donation of 5 acres toward the campus.
Six months have passed since Palm Beach County agreed to donate 5 acres of its land downtown for the campus. The city of West Palm Beach also agreed last year to donate 2 acres of land.
And more than a year has passed since government and business leaders first heralded plans for the UF campus in West Palm Beach as a game-changer for the county. Both UF and local government leaders said UF's presence would bring thousands of highly-skilled graduate students to the area and attract even more companies and jobs.
However, despite West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County racing to convey taxpayer-owned land to UF, the final, crucial 5-acre piece remains just out of reach of Florida's flagship university, despite intense efforts to make a deal with Greene.
Greene says UF has backed away on earlier promise to name school after him
Greene said he wants UF to adhere to an early promise to name the school after him, a promise from which, he claims, UF has since backed away.
Now the university just wants to name a building after him, according to Greene and the Fuchs letter.
In the Jan. 31, 2023, letter to Greene, Fuchs said if UF named the campus after Greene, it would hinder efforts to obtain other private donations for the school and other naming opportunities for would-be donors.
But Greene is sticking to a Feb. 16, 2022, letter from UF Foundation Vice President Thomas Mitchell outlining the naming promise.
In the letter, Mitchell informed Greene that UF wanted to name the school after Greene because of his "early leadership support and his willingness to partner with our chairman of the board and president." As such, the school would be known as the Jeff Greene School of Technology and Innovation.
"All divisions, departments, centers, institutes would all be at the Jeff Greene School of Technology and Innovation," Mitchell wrote.
Subsequently, both Greene and Mitchell signed a non-binding letter of intent. This letter said Greene's name would be featured on the campus' first academic building as the Jeff Greene School of Technology and Innovation.
Greene said Monday that the letter was meant to complement the earlier promise to name the school after him, and that no philanthropist would donate land worth $50 million just to have one building named for them.
Since initial naming pledge, Jeff Greene asked for assurances on West Palm Beach UF campus plans
In the months following the February correspondence, Greene began adding various conditions to the donation, including enrollment requirements. Greene said he wanted assurances the campus would feature at least 700 students, but UF correspondence said Greene wanted "1,000 students forever."
Greene also sought a provision that the land could revert back to him if other standards weren't met, including timelines for UF reaching certain milestones regarding construction and education programs.
By October 2022, UF decided it could not come to terms with Greene's requirements for the donation, and instead began negotiations to buy the land from him instead, according to the Fuchs letter. After reaching an agreement to buy the land for $45 million, the deal fell apart on Dec. 8 when Greene decided against selling the land after all, the Fuchs letter said.
In an interview, Greene said the land's value greatly exceeded $45 million and could be worth as much as $200 million or $300 million, based on his development rights.
Jeff Greene said he was willing to donate land if he could buy coveted land at The Square, but Stephen Ross declined
To break the deal logjam, Greene said he suggested a compromise: He would be willing to part with the 5 acres for the UF campus if he could buy the block now home to Publix at The Square. That property is owned by Ross's Related Cos., which plans to build residential units on the parcel.
Greene said he was willing to pay Related Cos. $25 million for the 2.5 acres.
However, Greene said Ross wouldn't budge.
"It's so crazy; I'm gaining nothing out of this," Greene said of the UF deal. "I'm unlike Steve Ross, who is giving $50 million to make $500 million."
In Monday's interview, Greene said he also felt snubbed by UF because he was not invited to meet or even talk to UF's new president, Ben Sasse, who was in Palm Beach County recently. "I come up with the whole plan and the lead land donation, and when the president comes to Palm Beach, he doesn't even call us? It's beyond insulting."
Ross said the Publix land is not up for grabs or a swap with Greene.
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"We have a deal with Publix to tear down the store and create a new store (next door) and build 700 residential units on that piece of property. The plans are more or less done," Ross said. "That train has left the station."
Greene said he still is interested in donating the land to UF if the university can meet his conditions.
"They're trying to buy it. I want to donate it," Greene said. "I never asked for it to be named but they came up with a way to honor me and they offered the naming thing for us ...I'm a long-term player in West Palm Beach. We don't sell our developable land downtown, but I'm happy to use it for a greater purpose."
But in Fuchs' letter to Greene, Fuchs said UF cannot agree to Greene's conditions for donating the land "as the reverter and contingency language in the contract were not acceptable to us."
Millions of dollars at risk in funds from Florida Legislature plus donated dollars for UF campus in West Palm Beach
Much is riding on the UF campus in West Palm Beach, including the deployment of millions of dollars in public and private money.
Last year, Florida lawmakers approved an award of $100 million to UF to create its West Palm Beach campus. The money seemingly is contingent on two factors: The receipt of 12 acres of donated land in Palm Beach County, and $100 million in cash donations paid in full on or before July 1, 2027.
But the $100 million contains a large loophole.
If UF doesn't meet both conditions and the West Palm Beach campus doesn't materialize, the $100 million still stays with the university to use as it sees fit elsewhere in the state. According to the state's 2022-23 budget, UF's board could vote to use the $100 million state award "in a location outside of Palm Beach County."
Although UF won't discuss the status of the promised West Palm Beach site, the university has been vocal about private pledges to help pay for it.
Last August, UF announced it had received commitments of $100 million in private donations for the West Palm Beach campus. It is unclear if those commitments could be undone if UF cannot assemble the full 12-acre campus downtown.
The future of the 5 county acres pledged to UF could become iffy, too, if the university doesn't meet certain timetables.
On Aug. 23, for instance, the county agreed to donate 5 acres of land downtown worth $42 million. The land is at 810 Datura St., an area on the west side of downtown known as Government Hill.
Clock is ticking on timetables for West Palm Beach UF campus planning
In order to take title to the land, UF must adhere to several timelines. By August 2024, UF must complete the campus' master plan, including academic offerings. In addition, UF must start construction within five years of the August 2022 contract with the county.
County staffers had sought to require that construction permits be in place before the land could be conveyed to UF in a closing, but UF pushed back. The university said it couldn't ink public-private partnerships if it did not control the land. The agreement instead calls for UF to certify that permits are "obtainable."
If these conditions aren't met, the donated property automatically reverts to the county.
Greene said he also wanted to make sure UF followed through with its promised plans.
An early supporter of the UF campus, Greene met with UF officials at his home in the Hamptons as long ago as the summer of 2021. Since then, he's also held private fundraising events at his oceanfront Palm Beach mansion.
Greene said he and his wife helped devise the UF campus and he is proud of his early support and hard work on the project.
UF would not respond to questions about efforts to obtain the Greene-owned land, or the naming rights he is seeking. Instead, UF provided a written statement that affirmed the university's continued efforts to create the campus.
“The University of Florida is fully engaged in West Palm Beach and continues to move forward with plans for a campus there. We are currently conducting our due diligence with the city, the county and other parties," the statement said.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: UF offered Jeff Greene naming rights to West Palm Beach campus
