paradisenb

Thought this might go over real well with this forum. Note the outline of RA at the top of the rendering. This is probably too much revenue for the city to pass up and a massive development project so close to the track will almost certainly bring about it's closing.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/n...417&j=72797652

ProCoach

Damn... It was only a matter of time.

I remember when there were NO strip malls on 53 OR 211. No housing projects, no gas stations, no hospitals, nothing. Turned off of 985 and there was a school and a few churches on 53 on the way to the track. Turn off 85 and there were no restaurants and no gas stations before the BMW junkyard and BBS, who built their headquarters next to the track Anyone remember the Admiral Benbow in Oakwood?

There was discussion of this just before ISC bought Road Atlanta when it bought ALMS from Panoz, along with the operating lease for Sebring. Panoz was shopping the track and Bridgestone/Firestone came very close (IIRC) to buying the facility as a test track.

I feel fortunate to have driven and raced Road Atlanta in it's heyday and up to now. Maybe, we'll get a few more years...

A blast from the past.

Veloce Raptor

Phuque

Kurt R

It's called Petit LeMans. Happens just about every year. I probably still have some work clothes with red clay embedded in them.

Spinout

How the hell they reference this vanilla mixed use development to San Antonio's River Walk is ludicrous. It's a freakin pond.

(As I sit in a hotel room in Braselton anxious to drive RA once again tomorrow)

Strimdog

Man this would be terrible. RA is one of the best tracks we have...

dan212

Had the pleasure of driving Road Atlanta for the first time at the club race April 1. Have to admit I absolutely loved it and it's now one of my all time favorites. I would be very sorry to see it go.

Honkity Hank

It is all about marketing, as a developer you just need to sell it once. Dig a pond and call it a man made river, lol. That is gold Jerry, gold. But the reality is that area is growing very fast. Unrecognizable from just 10 years ago, let alone 25. The Real threat to road Atlanta is when the property becomes more valuable as something other than a race track. Drive it while you can.

paradisenb

I suspect the land where RA is would be far more valuable to the city and county right now with single family or multi-family residential units paying taxes and spending their money locally.

The city where my business has been located for 16 years just forced the owner to sell all the buildings and the additional land he owns so they can have multi-family units built by a developer they chose.

RA is on borrowed time. I suspect in 10 years it will be only a memory.

jdistefa

Man, would people just stop having babies already?

fbirch

For sure these guys will build a development right next to a long-established race track and then complain about the noise. That has the potential to put a damper on things even before property valuations shut down the track. I wonder if the track has any recourse to get the developer to acknowledge that he is building on a site that will encounter noise from a preexisting business

LostSouth

There is already a good amount of development around Road Atlanta, but there is also not a shortage of developable land in the area.

David993S

Interesting and potentially unfortunate news. Let's hope it doesn't happen. I feel lucky to have raced in the SCCA Runoffs twice when they were held at RA (old configuration). What a wonderful track.

JRMaroon

This is the quote that caught my attention.

"The project doesn’t have construction financing yet, according to a spokesman for the developer"

Securing financing for a $700M project 60 miles from Atlanta city center may be the biggest challenge. I will believe it when I see it break ground.

chrisc

I suspect in 10 years I might be a memory too.....Looks like the AMP guys might really make out if this comes together.