Track for sale

[James Rogerson]

Got call and eMail concerning sale/purchase of Mid-America Motorplex.

Not for me. I'm already in as deep as I want to be and I've done systems consulting in Omaha in February more than once. I don't own a coat and I'm not buying one.

Anyone looking to join the track ownership club let me know or contact them directly.

James

 

[RonInSD]

There has been rumors of financial issues for the last couple years. I think the flood last summer had a big hit. I guess they have soybean growning around the course this year. The last couple years they have had alfalfa growing.

They just had a large consignment sale at the track. Not sure if the equipment was from some of Tincher's other companies or not.

 

[red986s]

If were the new owner I'd plow the current track under and grow corn. Then buy acreage 20 miles east, on the other side of the Loess Hills. Perfect place for a "Topeka-like" track. Who's in? :lol:

 

[RonInSD]

If were the new owner I'd plow the current track under and grow corn. Then buy acreage 20 miles east, on the other side of the Loess Hills. Perfect place for a "Topeka-like" track. Who's in? :lol:

Mitch,

The biggest real race track "value" in MAM is all the EPA and county permits that you would need to get to build a new track. That was the biggest issue for George over at MPH and killed the track that was going to be built in Worthington, MN.

Land valve is huge part of it with the price of grain right now but banks are really tough on lending money to farmer to buy the land.

May be all the car/motorcycle clubs in the area could/should put up money to buy it and form an independent corporation to run it. They would all have members on the board but no one club would have total say. I think that is how High Plains works. Maybe Karl can step in and remind us.

Ron.....Wishing I could win the lotto.

 

[VWRalf]

Remember MVRG? Could you imagine NRSCCA and DMVR being co-owners of the track? That wouldn't last.
I remember at the beginning of the season track management coming to the NRSCCA meeting practically begging for more than one SCCA event this year. He mentioned a possible investor, but that person needed to see more interest by the clubs before investing. We'll have a second race in October, but I think the only reason that is happening is because Iowa Speedway wanted too much money.
I hope that the extra events (concerts) being held there bring in enough money to keep the track open. Its too close to home for us to lose it.

 

[RonInSD]

2012 East Central Nebraska average Dryland Cropland (Irrigation Potential) value is $6390/acre
2012 West Central Iowa Average Medium Yield Cropland value is $7275/acre Sept Price ($9085 high yield Sept Price).

217 acres are listed on the MAM web site so land value would be $1,386,630 to $1,971,445 as farm land. That does not discount for the non tillable acres due to the lake. Now discount due to flood zone and take the cost of removing the track and paddock to return the land to farm ground.

 

[red986s]

Ron,

It wouldn't be simple to do (permits, cost, etc.) but the key word is "flood plain". It's not a question of "if" but "when" that area will flood again. Sure you could invest in the infrastructure but by time you're done you could have moved the track to a new location. The other problem is expansion/growth of the facility. If you want the track to survive and improve you need to have land and money. It's butted up against I-29 and I imagine Tencher owns the surrounding area. I would assume any serious investors would shy away from this track because of it's location. That is unless you just want a local club track that will end up in the same situation it is now. Just my $0.02.

 

[Karl McColl]

HPR is owned by local clubs, specifically, Colorado Region SCCA, Porsche club(two local chapters) Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, Motorcylcle racing Assoc., and the fifth is the multi-car club, a loose conglomeration of smaller, mostly marque clubs. This group is together known as CAMA (Colorado Amatuer Motorsports Assoc. This group had the advantage of holding the lease and operating Second Creek Raceway for twenty or so years before its closure due to encroaching development in 2005. This allowed CAMA clubs to build a nest egg of about $650K. Each club kicked in another $50K to get us to $900K to jump start the HPR project. The land (aprox 465acres) was purchaced cheaply having something to do with its location in relation to aquifers and is considered sub-prime farm land. The CAMA member clubs raised an additional $2million+ through member and non-member contributions. CAMA then raised an additional $2million (estimated I can't recall ) via private placement loans.

The track opened in 2009 and is doing very well, with a waiting list for weekends and solid weekday testing business.

The permitting and zoning process was very difficult. This was actually the third property CAMA put under offer, others failed due lack of support from county commisioners and neighbors. One kind of leads to the other.

 

[Thom Asay]

If the track wasn't in a flood plain & so close to the interstate(no lots on that side) I'd buy it, sub-divide it into residential lots(50k-100k per lot), and turn it into a racing country club. Homeowners would have the ability to come home from work and run laps every evening!

 

[jigou]

There has been rumors of financial issues for the last couple years. I think the flood last summer had a big hit. I guess they have soybean growning around the course this year. The last couple years they have had alfalfa growing.

They just had a large consignment sale at the track. Not sure if the equipment was from some of Tincher's other companies or not.

I'd venture to say the financial issues have been going on for more than the last couple years. The flood shutting the facility down for 2/3 of the 2011 season was just piling on.

Remember MVRG? Could you imagine NRSCCA and DMVR being co-owners of the track? That wouldn't last.

Ralf made me giggle.

We'll have a second race in October, but I think the only reason that is happening is because Iowa Speedway wanted too much money.

Although I've disconnected myself from the committee, there are a few things at play - a little cost, plus a little scheduling issue - there's a regional event at Blackhawk Farms the same weekend. MAM is 3 hours further west, which is (IMHO) still borderline for those of us in the middle....but better than having two events 3 hours apart, with a couple of divisions that aren't known for race attendance BUT rely on each other for workers and a few entries here and there.

 

[RonInSD]

Remember MVRG? Could you imagine NRSCCA and DMVR being co-owners of the track? That wouldn't last.

I don't know the entire back story of the MVRG break down due to the code of silence that surrounded the issues. SCCA clubs would not be the only owners and may not be the largest owners. There is a lot of money in some of the larger one make clubs, some of who are now larger then SCCA as a whole.

There has been rumors of financial issues for the last couple years. I think the flood last summer had a big hit. I guess they have soybean growning around the course this year. The last couple years they have had alfalfa growing.

They just had a large consignment sale at the track. Not sure if the equipment was from some of Tincher's other companies or not.

I'd venture to say the financial issues have been going on for more than the last couple years. The flood shutting the facility down for 2/3 of the 2011 season was just piling on.

Yeah if someone was looking to purchase the track an audit of the track financial statement would most likely done before the purchase. It may reveal some info but any issues could be hidden too. The biggest issue could be any outstanding tax liabilities if any.

Everyone is right that the biggest issue with MAM is location in the flood plain. Just a large rain causes the water table to rise and they have water problems. Money would need to be invested in the drainage and then rebuilding of the paddock. The track surface is getting to the point of needing a repaving. Last summers flood has caused some additional breakup/lifting of the surface. If someone wanted to build out the track more with hotel/condos it would not be the ideal location due to the flooding and I-29.

I always had the idea of building a track in the Black Hills of SD. A number of large events happen out there every year but very little SCCA/car clubs out there to speak of right now. The location has more to offer then just a track but it is a "remote" location to most SCCA members. As Karl pointed out you would need about $5 million plus to build a good/nice club track now and the prices climbs from there when you add other features.