ST. PETERSBURG - Draper Laboratory has purchased a 41,000-square-foot building in St. Petersburg where the Cambridge, Mass.-based company will manufacture microchips for the military and government agencies, city officials announced.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Renovations to the building, 10050 16th St. N., should be completed in March. The site could employ an estimated 65 people in the next five years, primarily in highly technical production jobs.

"Today, we're one step closer to opening the doors to a new facility that will not only create high-paying jobs at a critical time, but will also contribute to pioneering work for the future of our community, the nation and the world," Mayor Rick Baker said in a statement Thursday.
State and local governments ponied up more than $20 million in June to persuade Draper, a nonprofit research and development company, to open facilities in the Tampa Bay area.

Draper also plans to join the University of South Florida in establishing a research center for the design, development and testing of microelectronics. In addition, Draper will work closely with Progress Energy Florida, Central Florida's largest power provider, on energy-related research projects.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.