MEMBERSHIP LOGIN
JOIN PRI
Lease Agreement OK'd For New Race Track
Image
Pima County has reached a lease agreement with a group that wants to build a multimillion-dollar auto racecourse next to the Pima County Fairgrounds.
The Board of Supervisors approved an agreement Tuesday with Southern Arizona Raceway LLC to build the course on 400 acres south of the fairgrounds.
The developer will be required to spend at least $15 million to build a racetrack, lighting, pit road and pit area, and meet any other requirements mandated to qualify for a French-based Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile Grade 2 license. Southern Arizona Raceway also must provide amenities such as grandstands, rest-rooms and concessions in exchange for a long-term lease with the county.
The agreement also includes the group building the Arizona International MotorSports Museum, which the company hopes will rival the Pima Air and Space Museum.
Rent will be about $137,000 a year or 2 percent of gross revenues, whichever is greater.
The raceway will feature a lighted 2.8-mile course with 14 turns.
The developer will have up to 18 months to design and begin construction, and to line up investors, county documents say. The track is expected to open no later than spring 2017.
Richard “Andy” Anderson, who will co-manage the project with Charles Quiroz, approached the county with some project partners in 2011 with plans to build a professional course next to other racing-related venues at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds already has Tucson Speedway, a paved NAS-CAR track, Southwestern International Dragway and the Musselman Honda Circuit.
Anderson said his group expects to invest $67 million within the first 10 years of operation, which the county projects will generate $264 million in revenue and create more than 150 high-paying full-time jobs.
The total economic impact of the raceway during that time is expected to be about $1.2 billion, according to county documents.
Southern Arizona Raceway is expected to host organizations and events such as IndyCar, TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Racing , Superbike racing and Historic Sportscar Racing, which are projected to draw between 15,000 and 50,000 spectators.
The course will have other uses when professional drivers aren’t racing, including a racing school, which would teach everything from defensive driving to advanced high-speed courses.
Private car clubs, like those for Porsche owners, might also use the course for special events, Anderson said.
The board postponed a decision to ask Kinder Morgan for about $12 million for long-term environmental damage caused by its proposed Sierrita pipeline.
A company representative called County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry Monday evening asking to meet with county officials to discuss the 60-mile natural gas pipeline from Tucson to Sasabe, Huckelberry said.
Kinder Morgan’s president, Mark A. Kissel, also sent a 13-page letter Monday to the supervisors.
In the letter, Kissel said the company is prepared to “immediately meet with the board or its representatives to complete the negotiations in a mutually beneficial way.” However, county officials were skeptical of whether Kinder Morgan would concede to any of the county’s demands.
Kinder Morgan disagreed on how much the county projects it will cost for added law enforcement, access road maintenance and other items, calling the amounts “highly speculative” and “greatly overstated.”
Kissel said the costs should be covered by initial property tax revenue of $1.6 million the county gets per year. Taxes paid to other jurisdictions, like school districts, will boost the annual property tax for the pipeline to $3.3 million, he said.
Kissel also said the county is overlooking the environmental mitigation requirements and restrictions already placed on the project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Huckelberry previously said the project would generate about $12.4 million in tax revenues, but most of that money would go to the state. The county would receive only $7,334, he said.
County officials hope to meet with Kinder Morgan representatives within the next month to discuss these issues.
The Board of Supervisors approved an agreement Tuesday with Southern Arizona Raceway LLC to build the course on 400 acres south of the fairgrounds.
The developer will be required to spend at least $15 million to build a racetrack, lighting, pit road and pit area, and meet any other requirements mandated to qualify for a French-based Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile Grade 2 license. Southern Arizona Raceway also must provide amenities such as grandstands, rest-rooms and concessions in exchange for a long-term lease with the county.
The agreement also includes the group building the Arizona International MotorSports Museum, which the company hopes will rival the Pima Air and Space Museum.
Rent will be about $137,000 a year or 2 percent of gross revenues, whichever is greater.
The raceway will feature a lighted 2.8-mile course with 14 turns.
The developer will have up to 18 months to design and begin construction, and to line up investors, county documents say. The track is expected to open no later than spring 2017.
Richard “Andy” Anderson, who will co-manage the project with Charles Quiroz, approached the county with some project partners in 2011 with plans to build a professional course next to other racing-related venues at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds already has Tucson Speedway, a paved NAS-CAR track, Southwestern International Dragway and the Musselman Honda Circuit.
Anderson said his group expects to invest $67 million within the first 10 years of operation, which the county projects will generate $264 million in revenue and create more than 150 high-paying full-time jobs.
The total economic impact of the raceway during that time is expected to be about $1.2 billion, according to county documents.
Southern Arizona Raceway is expected to host organizations and events such as IndyCar, TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Racing , Superbike racing and Historic Sportscar Racing, which are projected to draw between 15,000 and 50,000 spectators.
The course will have other uses when professional drivers aren’t racing, including a racing school, which would teach everything from defensive driving to advanced high-speed courses.
Private car clubs, like those for Porsche owners, might also use the course for special events, Anderson said.
The board postponed a decision to ask Kinder Morgan for about $12 million for long-term environmental damage caused by its proposed Sierrita pipeline.
A company representative called County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry Monday evening asking to meet with county officials to discuss the 60-mile natural gas pipeline from Tucson to Sasabe, Huckelberry said.
Kinder Morgan’s president, Mark A. Kissel, also sent a 13-page letter Monday to the supervisors.
In the letter, Kissel said the company is prepared to “immediately meet with the board or its representatives to complete the negotiations in a mutually beneficial way.” However, county officials were skeptical of whether Kinder Morgan would concede to any of the county’s demands.
Kinder Morgan disagreed on how much the county projects it will cost for added law enforcement, access road maintenance and other items, calling the amounts “highly speculative” and “greatly overstated.”
Kissel said the costs should be covered by initial property tax revenue of $1.6 million the county gets per year. Taxes paid to other jurisdictions, like school districts, will boost the annual property tax for the pipeline to $3.3 million, he said.
Kissel also said the county is overlooking the environmental mitigation requirements and restrictions already placed on the project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Huckelberry previously said the project would generate about $12.4 million in tax revenues, but most of that money would go to the state. The county would receive only $7,334, he said.
County officials hope to meet with Kinder Morgan representatives within the next month to discuss these issues.
