$100M Motorsports Village Revs Up

WAXAHACHIE, TX-A consortium of well-known race enthusiasts has catapulted a $20-million idea into a $100-million venture in a plan to develop a 1,420-acre motorplex in a town roughly 40 miles southeast of Fort Worth.

The lead player, GPX Partners LLC of Dallas, will break ground in March 2003 on the Boundless Motorplex, a racing complex being designed for national and international events for motorcycles, cars, jet skis and boats. Key to the decision to buy the Waxahachie acreage is the town’s proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth.

The land had been assembled reportedly for another venue by Ted R. Ezzell and Sherry Conyers, principals in Dallas-based Tree Development Inc. when the consortium put in an offer for the 1,420 acres. The land fronts US Highway 287 and is three miles from Interstate 35 and nine miles from US Highway 45. A 100-acre tract of highway frontage is being land banked for future retail development, including a hotel and 40,000-sf, five-dealership motorcycle sales building, Leslie Wulf, GPX Partners president, tells GlobeSt.com. Coldwell Banker Commercial SA handled the intricacies of the transaction.

Wulf says the development partnership started kicking around the idea just eight months ago. The original plan was to build a $20-million single track for street racing. That 3.2-mile road racing course now is the centerpiece for a much larger project, one with a 180-acre, five-track Motocross Village and a 50-acre lake for jet ski and boat competitions.

The 3.2-mile course plans to be the only US-approved track by the Federation Internationale de L’ Automobile and Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme–a first in the US, says the GPX team. The course is to be open for the 2004 racing season.

Bobby Hartslief, GPX’s chief development officer and owner of a track near Johannesburg in South Africa, said the team is in discussions with numerous international racing organizations to stage first-time US competitions. The talks are expected to turn into announcements in 60 days.

Alliance Architects of Richardson, TX is the designer of the master plan, which calls for a 100,000-seat grand stand, more than 150 skyboxes and 120 condos that back up to the track. DalMac Construction has won the general contractor’s award.

The complex is to stand as the home for five racing schools as well as manufacturer and racing team testing facilities. Also coming is a racing-related business park, luxury RV resort, motorsport storage facility and permanent garages. An 18-hole championship golf course, to be designed by the PGA’s David Frost, also has made the drawing boards.

Wulf says it’s been nearly two decades since a motorplex of this magnitude has been built in the US. The supplemental retail will be plotted in June 2003, with an eye on a 2004 construction start after the tracks and lake are nearing completion.

“This modern, state-of-the-art road racing course will set a new tone and standard for road racing courses in the USA for years to come,” Wulf said in a prepared statement, “and our overall complex will make it one of the premier sporting venues in the country.”

Jesse Shelmire, GPX chairman, said the board was handpicked for its world-class experience in building, promoting, participating or managing a complex of the caliber being developed. He said the DFW metroplex was picked because it has “one of the best racing demographic location profiles in the world.”

The GPX Partners’ roster includes Jeff Nash, a veteran motorcycle racer who has been tapped as the chief safety officer. Nash holds six national titles and now owns a race team. He also owns, Advanced Motorsports, one of the nation’s leading Ducati Motorcycle performance centers for building Superbike engines. He is on the board of the American Motorcycle Association.

Hartslief built and operated race circuits, including the organization and promotion of five Formula One Grand Prix events and four Moto Grand Prix races. Shelmire is a longtime motor sports enthusiast and principal of Stonegate Securities, a 30-year-old, Dallas-based investment banking firm. Wulf has more than 19 years’ experience in developing and managing companies from start-up stages through rapid growth expansion.

Partner Stan Graff is a member of a third-generation family with a group of dealerships in Dallas-Fort Worth. Partner Darryl E. Freling, a GPX partner, is president of TFC Partners Inc., a company involved in real estate, corporate investment and finance activities.