LVMS owner has plan to build condominiums at Speedway

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

When Las Vegas Motor Speedway still was on the drawing board, the track's developers borrowed many of the design concepts from Bruton Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Now that Smith has purchased LVMS, the facility may look even more like Charlotte Motor Speedway in the near future.

The Sun has learned that Smith is considering building luxury condominiums that will overlook the 1.5-mile superspeedway -- a concept he first introduced at Charlotte and later incorporated at two of his other tracks.

"It takes quite a bit of planning (and) we're in the process of doing that now," Smith said. "We would like to have a more definite plan when we make the announcement so we know it's a go.

"Once I say something, I like to be sure we do it and right now it's just in the thinking stage."

Smith said he envisions situating the high-rise condominiums so that they will overlook turn two at the Speedway.

Smith was the first track owner to build condos that overlook the racing facility when he constructed 52 condominiums at CMS in the 1980s.

Despite initial skepticism from his peers, Smith's idea turned out to be wildly successful. The units were priced starting at $125,000 and quickly sold out. Smith said that some owners have sold their condos at Charlotte for three and four times their original value.

"They were (priced) very, very, very low," Smith said of the Charlotte condos. "We did that just to be sure that they sold out.

"We did that to make a statement; it was not making money, it was making a statement and I think we made a major statement for the sport."

There also are 46 condos at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a track Smith purchased in 1990, and 76 units at Texas Motor Speedway, which Smith built in 1997.

Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said he would like to build between 75 and 100 condo units at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith said he has not yet determined a selling price for the condos.

"It's the greatest extension of a tailgate party you can imagine," Smith said of track-side condos. "You can wake up there in the morning to the tune of race cars. You can invite your friends over, you can wine and dine and impress (people), whether it's friends or customers, so it's a fabulous addition to a speedway."

Smith said he did not see the track's proximity to Nellis Air Force Base as a stumbling block to erecting a high-rise structure at LVMS.

"I don't see a problem because it's not in line with any runway," he said.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway would appear to be a natural facility to add this type of amenity; track-side condos would provide yet another option for hotel/casino operators who are looking for unique ways to cater to their high-rolling customers.

But Smith said that is not his sole thought behind the project.

"It's not only (the casinos)," Smith said. "You have such an influx of people ... a lot of people want to move to Las Vegas because they like the state (tax) laws you have there and it entices people to actually move to Las Vegas.

"We have people who live (in the condos at Charlotte) full time."