Charlotte Motor Speedway looking at mixed-use area in turn 2

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is developing ambitious plans to fill the area where its former Turn 2 grandstand once stood with a motorsports-themed mixed-use development that will cost in the high eight to low nine figures, according to sources.

Details on the retail elements of the plan from track owner and operator Speedway Motorsports Inc. were scarce. Sources, though, said a key component is a private area of the mixed-use development that will be called the Apex Club.

The club would grant access to amenities such as a newly renovated road course at the speedway, a go-kart track, a gun range, clubhouse and other high-end features like entertainment and food and beverage options. SMI is targeting 300 membership spots in the Apex Club. One hundred of those will be for owners of condos in the development, while 200 will be sold for general access to the club.

The 200 general-access members are looking at an initial buy-in fee of around $150,000, plus $25,000 in annual dues, sources said, while the 100 members who own condos would not incur the $150,000 buy-in fee but would pay $25,000 in annual dues.

SMI has been trying to figure out what to do with the area at CMS for more than a year after announcing in late 2014 that it was taking down the Turn 2 grandstands, formerly called the Diamond Tower Terrace, which sat 41,000 people.

The seat reduction took the track's capacity from 134,000 to around 90,000. Sports Business Journal