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Further
information & contacts:
Bill Schuck -
(719) 633-4500 (overview & financial information)
Scott Chase –
(303) 324-1121 (government relations)
Gerry Freeman
– (303) 246-6886 (public relations)
Press Release
- (Aurora, CO) – May 27th, 2009
– The new development will feature a $200 million motor sports
facility to attract a variety of national racing events on 1,500
acres presently part of the 6500 acre development known as
TransPort, located in the City of Aurora. The motor sports
complex will be fronting on I-70, ten minutes east of Pena Blvd.
and Denver International Airport (DIA). Ch 9 News Coverage
TransPort is
negotiating with other national and regional tourism attractions
to co-locate on the site, and with local and national retailers
to create a true “destination” entertainment and tourism
opportunity. This venture is expected to create thousands of
new jobs and ultimately have an annual economic impact of over
$250 million in Colorado.
TransPort has
been completing planning, zoning, and engineering on the 6500
acre parcel for the past several years and recently acquired its
final 640 acre parcel of land from the Front Range Airport
Authority in February.
The Schuck
Corporation, and its long-time financial partners, will lead the
private investment effort for the motor sports complex and will
work with a variety of national and local partners with motor
sports experience who are interested in establishing a national
racing venue in Colorado. In addition, Schuck is working with
Greg Stevinson, the Jefferson County real estate developer and
investor on a variety of other development opportunities on the
site.
Designing
and Building a World Class Motor Sports Facility
TransPort has
contracted with renowned racetrack architect, Paxton Waters of
Paxton Waters Architecture from Carmel, Indiana, who has already
begun design of the state-of-the-art racing complex. Paxton was
lead designer on the California Speedway, Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, and most recently the Iowa Speedway. The design team
will also include former Formula I/Indy car driver, Derek Daly.
Mr. Waters
and 4-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon have recently teamed to
design the Canadian Motor Speedway in Ontario, Canada. John
Bickford, Vice President and General Manager of Jeff Gordon,
Inc. stated, “The Denver/Rocky Mountain region is an extremely
attractive motor sports market based on a large, enthusiastic
fan base, coupled with strong television demographics. We look
forward to the possibility of bringing the Jeff Gordon/Paxton
Waters design team expertise to this exciting venture.”
Motor Sports
project facts:
-
1 mile
oval speedway
-
65,000 to
100,000 spectators
-
4 mile
road course
-
Karting
facility
Construction
of the motor sports complex will move ahead rapidly with
ground-breaking scheduled as early as late 2010 and will be able
to accommodate a full-range of racing events including stock
car, open wheel, midget, road racing, club and track rental, and
Kart racing as well as a variety of motorcycle racing.
Innovation “Green” Campus and Knowledge Hub
In addition
to racing activities, the development is ideally positioned to
create a research and development center that focuses on
environmentally responsible technologies and products. This
would position the State of Colorado as a leader embracing
partnerships with industry that drive improvement through
Responsible Environmental Management. “Our current designs
embrace the future by providing a multi use sporting facility
that doubles as a development campus for the products and minds
of the future. These are exciting times for states that have
true vision,” said designer, Derek Daly.
Co-location of Other National Sporting and Tourism Venues
TransPort is
currently in discussions with other sporting and tourism venues
that could generate significant economic synergies through the
shared use of infrastructure investments such as parking,
utilities and related public facilities. Included is
Bandimere Speedway, a drag-racing facility now located on
highway C-470 in Jefferson County.
An Economic Boom to Colorado
Last year,
The Washington Economics Group Inc. conducted an economic impact
study that showed the Kansas Speedway, which was built in 2001,
now has a $243 million positive economic impact on the State of
Kansas. The track has also been responsible for considerable
growth around the speedway including hotels, restaurants and
retail outlets. The development plan for TransPort includes all
of these uses to produce a large scale destination tourism
opportunity for Colorado and Aurora.
“The
development of a major sports and entertainment facility will
generate positive economic activities” said Tim Frost, a
motorsports financial consultant. “Construction and operations
of a multi-purpose venue can result in job creation and tax
revenue for the region.” Timothy W. Frost, President of Frost
Motorsports, LLC, is an economic and financial consultant who
provides expert analysis and innovative financing solutions to
the motorsports industry. The firm, based in Wilmette, IL, has
prepared feasibility studies, transactional, operational and
strategic planning projects for track owners, sanctioning
bodies, team owners, drivers, developers, municipalities and
other motorsports participants.
Paxton Waters
who has designed numerous speedways across the country and who
will design the speedway at TransPort, stated, “In two years
when the economy has recovered, this speedway will be in a
position to host all kinds of national racing events and reap
the benefit of helping this sport penetrate the untapped Rocky
Mountain region. This project will bring hundreds of thousands
of sports fans and tourists to Colorado and I have no doubt that
the state will enjoy the same type of positive economic impact
this type of speedway has brought to other states.”
Ideal Location without Residential Concerns
The motor
sports complex will be bordered by I-70 and the Front Range
Airport and located only 10 minutes east of Pena Blvd. The site
has “through the fence” access to Front Range Airport that will
allow TransPort and Front Range Airport to accommodate the
general aviation and logistical demands associated with
large-scale motor racing and tourism events. With 5 miles of
Union Pacific rail running through the property, rail service is
also accessible to TransPort occupants. TransPort is within
FRA’s Airport Influence Zone (AIZ) which restricts any
residential development on the land and avoids many of the
problems normally associated with motor speedways. In addition,
the speedway will have easy access without having to travel any
toll roads. Avoiding adverse impacts to existing neighborhoods
and the expense to consumers of toll road access has been a high
priority for The Schuck Corporation in its efforts to bring
motor racing to Colorado.
Bill Schuck
added, “Motor sports facilities need to be located where they
will not be disruptive to the neighboring area while still
offering easy access to the site. By building a motor sports
complex at TransPort, in an area zoned for industrial use and
not residential, we can avoid any negative issues now and 50
years from now.”
In addition
to the 1500-acre speedway and tourism site, Schuck plans on
developing the remaining 5000 acres to accommodate a variety of
transportation needs that will take advantage of TransPort’s
unique location. Since TransPort has access to I-70, Front
Range Airport and Union Pacific Rail, the location is well
positioned to serve as a multi-modal transportation facility
with air, rail and ground transportation. This new approach to
transportation promotes regional connectivity and improves
mobility and industrial operational efficiency while mitigating
metro area freight congestion and increasing energy efficiency
and air quality.
Development Hopes to Leverage State and Federal Economic
Stimulus Tools
One of the
catalysts for TransPort’s decision to invest in excess of $200
million in the construction of a motor sports complex was a
recently passed piece of legislation in the Colorado
legislature, Senate Bill 173 – The Colorado Tourism Act, which
is expected to be signed by Governor Bill Ritter in the near
future. In an effort to create an incentive for significant
private sector investment, the bill gives local governments the
ability to apply to use a portion of new state sales tax revenue
derived from new tourism activities to help finance large-scale
projects that will bring those new tourism dollars to the state
as well as economic growth and jobs to Colorado. Once SB-173 is
signed into law, TransPort will work with the City of Aurora,
Adams County, and other state and local leaders to determine
whether the project can be considered for approval under the
Colorado Tourism Act. In addition, since the development will
include regional multi-modal transportation facilities and
large-scale tourism venues which will have significant economic
development impact in Colorado and create thousands of new jobs,
TransPort intends to work with Aurora, Adams County, Governor
Ritter and Colorado’s congressional delegation to explore
whether the proposed $200 million private sector development
could be eligible for additional federal discretionary stimulus
funds under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If so,
the project could help Colorado create thousands of more jobs
and steer millions of additional dollars into Colorado to fund
large-scale economic development projects that would have
otherwise gone to other states.
