Green Flag for Motorsports Park
Link: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806290381
By Eileen Stilwell
Courier-Post Staff
For more than a year, earth movers have been sculpting rolling hills and walls of sound-deadening dirt from a flat tract of cleared, sandy soil in Cumberland County for an estimated $175 million car buff's wonderland.
After 20 years and nearly as many proposals, the first of two and possibly three asphalt race tracks in the New Jersey Motorsports Park will open Saturday. The second will open in August.
"Bring it on. We can't wait. More traffic around here means more money and this is supposed to be a rich crowd," said Tett Robinson, bartender at the Rusti Nail Pub & Grill on Main Street.
In addition to the 2.3-mile Thunderbolt track and the 1.9-mile Lightning raceway, the park will offer racing options for high-performance go-carts, off-road vehicles, motorcycles and sports cars. It also has a swank clubhouse for members, dozens of garages to rent by the day or week, a driving school and the chance to buy $450,000 condominiums in the thick of the noise and exhaust fumes.
If the park becomes the automotive mecca that its investors predict, the final phase -- perhaps 10 years from now -- will bring hotels, a convention center and a three-quarter-mile oval track.
Once the project is completed, Millville expects to collect $5 million a year in property taxes. Meanwhile, under a 15-year tax abatement, the city will get 2 percent of the project's cost per year in lieu of taxes. At the five-year mark, Millville anticipates $2 million a year, said Don Ayres, the city's economic development director.
The densely populated corridor between New York City and Washington, D.C., is "grossly underserved as a racing destination," said Joseph G. Savaro, managing partner of the park who discovered the land while looking for a shopping center site.
Other investors include Lee Brahin of Cherry Hill, an amateur racer and commercial Realtor; Harvey Siegel of New York, developer and owner of Virginia International Raceway, and R.J. Valentine, a professional racer and owner of a premier go-carting business in Boston.
"The magnitude of this project is just thrilling," said Savaro of Blue Bell, Pa., on a recent spin around the pristine tracks.
About $13 million in state and federal funds has been pumped into the project for site remediation and to deliver water and sewer. Preliminary approval also has been granted for a $5 million grant from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
Additional funding was created last year through special legislation that allows the owners to increase the sales tax on purchases and expenses by 2 percent. That money will bounce back from the state Treasury to the owners as reimbursement for infrastructure expenses. Since Millville already has a reduced sales tax, the law will hike the levy from 3.5 percent to to 5.5 percent.
The project already affected the cost of area real estate.
Investors paid $3.7 million for 707 acres from the city five years ago, which equates to about $5,200 an acre. The city hopes to sell a nearby tract for an industrial park at $40,000 an acre.
Millville officials, who have been struggling to reinvent the depressed city once driven by glass factories and lumber mills, expect the park's impact to be transformational.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic with the progress. They have events scheduled every day through October. I can't wait for the races to begin to see the socioeconomic impact on the city," said Vice Mayor Joe Derella.
Employment at the park expects to build from its opening-day total of about 150 workers to 1,500 when it is complete.
So far, about 130 people have paid a $10,000 start-up membership fee, plus $2,400 a year for annual dues. The fee will jump to $15,000 July 1.
Interest in the park's 20 efficiency apartments that line the track and rent for $2,400 a weekend has also been "very high," according to Savaro.
Despite a wretched housing market, Savaro said 40 people have expressed interest in buying one of 182 condos in the park. Construction of the residences is set to begin next month.
Christopher Hoffner, a self-described race fan from Woodbury, said he is eager for the park to succeed. He is hopeful that the oval track ultimately will be able to attract a NASCAR event.
"After World War II, car racing was a really big sport," Hoffner said. "It used to go hand-in-hand with county fairs. But just like the farms in New Jersey, the number of tracks here have declined."
Racing is still huge, but its biggest fans are older with money to spend.
"The Millville operation seems very ambitious and smart because they appear to be courting the youth market. The $200-per-year season spectator pass for this year is extremely reasonable," Hoffner said.
The park has no immediate plans for bleachers. Savvy spectators will bring their own chairs and settle in on a spot along the race course.
The Woodbury race fan describes himself as a guy who builds dirt cars in his garage, spends about $50,000 on his hobby and loves to spend a day at the track inhaling fumes and beating back mosquitoes.
"Times have changed. People want to stay indoors with a video and air conditioning. They've become more housebound," he said.
If the race track triggers traffic jams in Millville's street, Maryann Connor said she would not mind having that kind of problem.
"We have a very successful Third Friday that attracts people to our galleries, but that's only one day a month. Otherwise, we're pretty slow around here. I really don't know anybody here who is opposed," she said.
The New Jersey Motorsports Park may be the state's first resort community that does not permit property owners to live there year-round and to send their children to the local schools. In their absence the condo association will rent the property or arrange for time-sharing.
"Our target audience for the condos are race fans who may have one or even two homes elsewhere, or corporations that want to buy a home to entertain clients in or as a perk for executives," said Savaro. "The arrangement is similar to golf communities in the south or ski resorts in the north.".
Reach Eileen Stilwell at (856) 486-2464 or estilwell@courierpostonline.com