Speedway puts marketing in gear

Thursday, May 20, 1999 | 1:34 a.m.

The industrial park at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has dropped its lease rates in a bid to jump-start business.

Chris Powell, executive vice president and general manager of the LVMS, said leasing has been turned over to Lee & Associates, a Southern California-based commercial real estate company with an office in Las Vegas.

The two executives marketing the 1.4-million-square-foot property -- one of the largest industrial complexes in the Las Vegas area -- say they're refocusing the strategy for finding tenants.

Mel Koich, senior vice president for Lee & Associates in Las Vegas, said while the emphasis will still be on drawing motor sports-related operations to the park, his company also will seek manufacturing, warehousing and service clients.

"The Las Vegas Motor Speedway management has been very good about allowing access to the tracks," Koich said. "That's something we're telling prospective clients, that they can test their products just a short distance from their location."

Powell said luring professional race teams to the park is another strategy to fill space, but that is more challenging because many of the established race teams are entrenched in motor sports hubs that have been in operation longer than the LVMS.

Koich said instead of concentrating on big-name race teams, his company may instead target up-and-coming racers or teams that participate in some of the less popular tours, like drag racers. They also may pitch the park as a location for a West Coast secondary office instead of a headquarters.

Koich acknowledged it could be a tough sell because Las Vegas is getting competition. He said a new track with an industrial park recently was opened by racer Roger Penske near Fontana, Calif. Lee & Associates and the LVMS crew are selling the state's tax benefits as a means for luring clients to Las Vegas and away from California.

Koich and his associate, Carla Pettigrew, say they are racing fanatics and have even participated in the sport in cars, on motorcycles and in boats. They plan an open house next month to show off the park and the track.

The park has facilities that range from 2,500 to 100,000 square feet and the company will offer leases starting at 25 cents per square foot.

Powell, who addressed a Nevada Development Authority breakfast meeting Tuesday, said in addition to redirecting the industrial park, the new owners of the track have expansion plans in mind.

He said he expects capacity for the 130,000-seat facility to double within 10 years due to the explosive popularity of motor sports. But before that happens, Powell said his company, Speedway Motorsports Inc., will have to wrestle with traffic problems.

One of the unusual apsects of the Las Vegas track is that virtually all traffic flows from it in one direction.

"At most tracks, after the checkered flag drops, you'll see traffic flow out in different directions and disperse," Powell said. "Here, everything moves to the south when an event ends."

As a result, it took more than four hours for the 35,000-car parking lot to empty after March 7's Las Vegas 400 NASCAR race.

But on the plus side, he said 130,000 brand-loyal racing fans -- 75 percent of them from outside the city -- filled local resorts for the weekend.

"And, they stayed for that magic number of 3.5 nights," Powell said. "And when Winston Cup (named for the sponsors of the Las Vegas 400 race) people come to town, they play. I've heard about the Comdex people. Our fans get into it and they have a passion for their sponsors like no other."

Powell said the company also has signed on as a major sponsor for the city of Las Vegas Corporate Challenge next year, a sampling of the company's commitment to charitable work in the community.