During his 30-minute presentation, McBain also introduced his vice president, Steve Veedell, an executive professor at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, and Anne Vickery, who has an extensive background in commercial real estate.
"There are a lot of folks who have developed motorsports parks, but we took a look and wanted the best design and the best events," said McBain. We are creating a master-planned facility that is designed to host national events and provide an affordable venue for regional events. We want to replace Galveston as a weekend destination."
McBain said he hopes by bringing the best types of events to the park that people will want to visit several times a year.
With some events bringing in as many as 80,000 spectators, the facility is expected to have an annual impact of $50 million to $100 million annually once it is built, said McBain.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Not only is the park expected to host AMA ProRacing and Grand Am Rolex Series events, it will be ideal for outdoor concerts and festivals.
In addition to a race track, the 819-acre master-planned facility will feature condominiums and an exclusive neighborhood of upscale homes and villas overlooking the complex.
The facility also will serve as a motorsports country club that will be able to serve 300 members.
At the press conference, Steve Veedell said the race park will be much different than what he first visualized when he was asked to examine the business plan. It wasn't until he visited Barbers Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., that he fully understood the concept.
By then, he already was impressed with McBain's business plan, calling it "detailed, complete and accurate."
Speaking about his experiences in Birmingham, Veedell said, "This crowd was completely different from what I expected. I looked at the group and what I saw were families coming out for a day together."
Like McBain, Veedell forecasts that the park will be a premier destination, not only for the Houston area, but for race fans around the country.
"This track will be second to none in Texas and among the top 10 in the country," said Veedell.
Regarding noise at the track, McBain said, "Noise limits of 106 decibels will ensure that a family can come to the park and enjoy a great competition event, while not becoming fatigued by unnecessary noise."
PROMOTIONS
McBain announced on Thursday that he is proud to be associated with Zoom Motorsports, which has agreed to be the park's promoter.
"They [Zoom] are consistently voted as a top promoter. We want a promoter that knows how to touch the fans in a way they want to come back," said McBain, adding that Zoom will accomplish this goal.
Zoom Motorsports not only will help the park arrange events, but its involvement alone provides credibility, while at the same time keeping down overhead expenses that would have been spent for personnel to book and manage events. The association between Liberty Motorsports Park and Zoom also provides leverage and increases revenue for the park.
WHAT COMES NEXT
With the signing of the development agreement behind him, McBain expects construction to begin within the next six weeks.
He said the public should not expect a formal groundbreaking, as winter could make the weather inhospitable for an outdoor ceremony.
"The management team of Liberty Motorsports Park is hopeful that it will be able to complete the actual road course by June of 2008," said McBain.
This plan is aggressive, but Veedell noted, "We have conducted over three-quarters of a million dollars in pre-engineering work. This includes complete environmental, soil, and drainage studies. We are ready to go with bulldozers right now; we simply need to complete some contracts and legal work to start construction."
More information about the master-planned Liberty Motorsports Park is available at www.libertymotorsportspark.com.

©Houston Community Newspapers Online 2007

Houston & Texas News
Nov. 16, 2007, 10:50PM
Work to begin soon on the $35 million complex
Liberty County motorsports park could host first event in 2009
By CINDY HORSWELL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Plans are under way to begin building a $35 million raceway park north of Houston that would be the first in Texas designed for national Grand-Am and AMA Superbike races.
Liberty Motorsports Park will be located on 819 acres off FM 105 near Cleveland in Liberty County, said the park's president, Marcus McBain. The park could host its first national event in April 2009.
McBain signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Cleveland this week for public tax and infrastructure assistance.
A racing enthusiast who has won two national races and seven regional championships, McBain said he has been working to get this project off the ground for about four years.
"It was a longer, more drawn out process than we wanted. But I think we got there," said Cleveland Mayor Jill Kirkonis, after signing the agreement on Thursday.
The city has agreed to spend $1.2 million to run water and sewer to the site after it's annexed in January and after completion of a feasibility study.

Details of the plan

A special tax zone will be created that would fund public improvements in the park zone.
In addition, the city approved two tax incentives. Track developers will get 2.5 percent of the 7 percent occupancy tax on the city's hotels and recoup any sales tax generated from the track site for promoting tourism in the city.
In return, track developers are predicting that at least two nationally televised races will be held at this master-planned facility that will attract more than 60,000 spectators.
Then there will also be revenue generated from regional races, trade shows, car and motorcycle schools, festivals and music concerts, McBain said.
If all goes as planned, the economic impact from this project could be significant in terms of additional jobs and spending, Kirkonis said.
"What we are trying to create is a Disneyland atmosphere, not a Friday-night drag race," said McBain.
Spectators will not be blasted out of the park by loud engines as the park plans to limit the noise level to 105 decibels to "make it a place that people would live," McBain said.
That's because the plan includes about 40 trackside condominiums for racing enthusiasts who will have special track privileges as well as use of a clubhouse and pool.

Gaining in popularity

Most spectators will be seated on an elevated grassy hillside where they can bring their lawn chairs and coolers, but some will be watching from suites with many amenities that overlook the track.
The 2.8-mile asphalt track makes twists and turns, rather than running in an oval like NASCAR tracks do, McBain explained.
This sort of road course is gaining in popularity as a sports venue, he said, noting more than 13 million people in the United States bought tickets for this motor sport in 2004.
He said some smaller operations already offer this type of road racing in Texas, but the Liberty County facility will be the first that will be geared for the big national events.
"There are only 10 other raceways in the country of this caliber," he said.
Twelve miles of roadway will be constructed around the site to avoid traffic jams at the large events, McBain added.
Plans call for trees to be cleared in December and January and then construction to begin in February, he said.

LIBERTY MOTORSPORTS PARK MOVING FORWARD
Posted by Staff    - Wednesday, 20 September 2006
New Track For Texas

Liberty Motorsports Park prepares to move forward on construction of the 2.8 mile world class road course located in the beautiful forested areas in Liberty County north of Houston, Texas.  The last 120 days have seen a significant change in the project, with Marcus McBain now working under his own company and solely developing the facility.  With this change, Liberty Motorsports Park has truly become a master-planned Motorsports Park.

Support for Liberty Motorsports Park has been solidified with city, county, and state involvement.  Over $8 million in public financing, grants, and state participation have been identified to support the construction of the facility.  The support from the city and county residents has also been a driving force in the project.  “It has been extremely energizing to talk to not only the city and county officials, but also the residents,” said Liberty Motorsports Park President Marcus McBain.  “They want and deserve this facility that will bring in national-level events.  The help we have received from the city council, the city manager, chamber of commerce, county commission, and county judge has been incredible.  I am also very excited about the last round of talks with the state and the impact this will have on the project.  Equally impressive is the assistance I have received from Harry Williams and Lou Meyers of Williams Timber Company. They have shown a dedication to this project that has insured success.”

A key component to the project moving forward has been the vision and assistance that real estate agent Anne Vickery has added to the project.  “Anne is a noted real estate professional in the area and moves many millions of dollars of commercial real estate annually,” said McBain.  “Her insight and contributions were invaluable in getting us ready to build.  I look forward to her assistance in marketing the commercial real estate and residential properties.”  The facility will feature over 30 acres of trackside villas as well as over 100,000 square foot of commercial space for racing teams and service providers.

Liberty Motorsports Park is creating an ultra-safe road course with focus on hosting AMA Pro Racing and other national events, regional competition as well as a true motorsports country club.  A crucial component for success was the financial structure.  “I spend almost every weekend at road course facilities and realize that not only do we need a safe and well designed facility, but it has to be cost effective for our customers and members,” McBain emphasized.  “The financial structure we have now will allow organizations to embrace the facility not only for the features, but also for the value we will bring.”

McBain will be finalizing investment contracts as well as residential (trackside villas) and commercial marketing programs for Liberty Motorsports Park.  For more information, please visit www.libertymotorsportspark.com or call 713-304-5509.

From Marcus McBain

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