Office leasing, condo sales, corporate events keep track buzzing

10:09 PM CST on Saturday, April 1, 2006

By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH – Just because there's not a major racing event at Texas Motor Speedway, it doesn't mean things are quiet.

The yearlong business of the speedway includes many ventures that don't deal directly with dropping a checkered flag.

Local police departments lease the parking lots and infield oval and road courses for training. Real estate sales for the speedway's office space and residential condominiums never stop. Banquets, weddings, proms and corporate events take over the Speedway Club ballrooms.

On a recent Saturday, for example, a racing school was using the track's road courses, an auto manufacturer was conducting a new car demonstration and a Christian motorcycle group was staging a rally and concert.

"There are all sorts of things that you can do during non-race times to help pay the rent," said Eddie Gossage, the speedway president and general manager. "We've had eight different things going on at once where people were renting the track. If you drove by, it would largely look like the place was quiet, that the grass was just growing. But we use this place all year long."

Mr. Gossage considers the track and its adjacent parking lots an outdoor convention center.

Inside, it's just as busy, with the auto garages, media center, suites and meeting rooms crammed with events.

The speedway employs 120 people year-round to keep the place humming.

Grounds crews and maintenance workers are constantly busy with repairs and improvements.

When they're not planning for the next race, the staff members are busy making the most of the facility.

John Eschberger, director of real estate, said the businesses that lease space in the Lone Star Tower are there throughout the year.

Companies like Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Penske truck leasing and Subway have offices at the track.

"It's a big asset for their customers because no one doesn't know where we are," he said. "And working here provides an additional perk on race weekends because they can host clients here.

BRAD LOPER / DMN

Vance Guyse, area manager for VOLT, has a birds-eye view of the track from his office in the Lone Star Tower.

"Once people are here, they love it. It's something that's really taken off."

The 10-story structure, which overlooks Turn Two of the track, is divided with the first four floors for office space and the remaining floors for residential condos. A nearby clubhouse with pool, tennis courts and workout facilities caters to Lone Star Tower tenants.

Mr. Eschberger works year-round leasing the properties and keeping up with their maintenance. And he's also working during the major races, promoting the property and making sure things go smoothly for the tenants.

Danette Jones, who books events at the speedway though Levy Restaurants, knows the feeling.

She spends her time filling up the club's conference rooms with everything from fashion shows and bat mitzvahs to major corporate outings.

She said a perk for many who hold events at the speedway is the opportunity to set up pace car trips around the track.

"We thought from the beginning that we could have a large social market," she said. "But now we're working on booking the larger corporate businesses."

She said the speedway meeting spaces are ideal for some because of the in-house catering and audio-visual amenities.

During the races, Ms. Jones also helps work the hospitality villages and other events for major race sponsors.

"It really never stops," she said.

The TMS staff also spends the time between races trying to figure out ways to make the facility better for the fans and drivers each year.

Part of that desire to improve comes from Mr. Gossage, who challenges his staff to raise the bar before each major race.

He also has a hard time forgetting the track's first year, a sloppy mess of muddy fields that set up the commuting nightmare of hauling fans to the track from off-site parking miles away.

For this weekend's races, the only busing that they'll do involves a fleet of new shuttle buses to transport fans from the farthest parking spaces and campgrounds to the track entrance and around the property.

The speedway's 40,000 campers, many of whom show up a week before the race, also now have three restroom and shower house complexes valued at $1 million each.

The speedway also provides 24-hour medical care and trash pickup.

"It's like having a couple hundred thousand people over to your house," Mr. Gossage said. "It becomes a whole city out here, and we function that way. You have to be ready, so we're always working at it."

Texas Motor Speedway isn't just busy during race weekends. Selling real estate in the speedway's condo tower (residential units range from 1,086 to 3,500 square feet) and booking parties, corporate events and banquets in the Speedway Club are yearlong endeavors.

Here's a look at some of the business activity that takes place off the track:

76 residential condominiums in the Lone Star Tower

4 residential condos still for sale

$375,000 price of least expensive condo for sale

$600,000 price of most expensive condo for sale

100,000 square feet of office space in Lone Star Tower

15 percent office space left to lease

13,364 square feet size of largest ballroom in the Speedway Club

9 proms booked this spring at the Speedway Club

$1 million amount taken in last year at TMS through banquets

SOURCES: Texas Motor Speedway; Levy Restaurants

E-mail lfox@dallasnews.com