Health-Care Firm Scraps Major Project : Employment: Purchase agreement for site is terminated. WellPoint business park plan was expected to accommodate about 1,700 workers by 1997.

Saying a recent merger forced a shift in plans, WellPoint Health Networks is scrapping a proposed $180-million development in Camarillo’s Mission Oaks Business Park.

WellPoint, a subsidiary of health insurance giant Blue Cross, was expected to employ about 1,700 workers by the time it opened the first phase of its Camarillo operations in 1997. That would have made it the city’s largest employer and the third largest non-governmental employer in Ventura County.

WellPoint merged with Health Systems International earlier this year, creating the nation’s largest publicly held managed health-care company.

Officials initially had said the merger was not expected to have any impact on the Camarillo development, which was expected to eventually expand to 1.4 million square feet and 7,200 employees.

But after analyzing office space owned by the companies--both hold long-term leases on their headquarters across the street from each other in Woodland Hills--officials decided the Camarillo project “would not have been a sound business decision.”

“We are right in the process of merging these two giant companies, and we are looking at a lot of options, and that is as far as we have gotten,” WellPoint spokesman Larry Bryant said.

WellPoint’s statement Tuesday announced the company would not proceed with plans to purchase 61 acres in the business park.

Bill Teller, vice president of Pardee Construction Co., which owns the 82-acre park, said WellPoint’s decision to terminate the purchase agreement came as a shock. “We had no idea,” he said. “We are disappointed. . . . Users like that do not come along very often.”

Teller would not say how much WellPoint had intended to pay for the property, which was in escrow.

Bryant said Camarillo is still an attractive location for possible future expansion but that the size of the 61-acre Mission Oaks site made its purchase unwise.

The joint health-care company, however, is seeking smaller sites in Camarillo, though officials would not say what sites are being considered.

“We will continue our presence in Ventura County and are exploring the possibility of establishing a Camarillo facility to accommodate future business growth,” John Siemon, WellPoint vice president of facility services and property management, said in a prepared statement.

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The Mission Oaks project was initially designed to consolidate WellPoint’s Ventura County operations. The company has plants in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park that employ about 1,400 people. Those facilities will not be affected by Tuesday’s announcement, officials said.

Camarillo city officials said they were disappointed by WellPoint’s decision to terminate the project but that it hardly came as a shock.

“I’m sorry to hear it because it would have been a beautiful addition to this city, but I wasn’t surprised,” said Councilman Ken Gose, who heard about the decision Tuesday evening.

“It would have been 7,200 jobs, and many of them would have been good jobs,” Gose said. “But with the merger, I knew they would be rethinking this.”

Mayor Michael Morgan said he hoped WellPoint re-evaluates its decision and realizes the value of the Camarillo development.

“We deeply regret the decision by corporate management to scrap this project after the time and effort expended by the city and the company,” Morgan said in a prepared statement.

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“WellPoint would have provided the type of jobs and corporate presence that would have been an asset to the city and the county,” he said.

The Camarillo City Council had approved WellPoint’s plans to construct 14 three- and four-story buildings and a six-story parking structure in the Mission Oaks Business Park in June.

The City Council’s final approval for a proposed helicopter pad was scheduled for consideration tonight.

WellPoint’s move into Ventura County began in 1987 in Thousand Oaks when the company opened an office near the county line with jobs ranging from clerical to executive positions. Two years ago, WellPoint opened an office in Newbury Park.

WellPoint provides health-care services to more than 2.8 million people nationwide.

Staff writers Daryl Kelley and Miguel Bustillo contributed to this report.