Distribution park planned for Nashville Superspeedway site

• Panattoni plans to start work on one or two speculative industrial buildings next year.
• The racetrack area would initially be left alone, with the developer keeping the door open to possibilities that might emerge.
• A multiphased, multiyear project would add to Wilson County's reputation as a warehouse and distribution hub.
• Only 4.3 percent of industrial space in the overall Nashville-area market was vacant, according to Avison Young.

The suitor for the Nashville Superspeedway property plans to transform that roughly 1,400-acre site into a logistics and distribution park.

Panattoni Development Co. will pursue with Wilson County officials a rezoning of that property in the Gladeville community to allow for manufacturing, warehouse and distribution uses.

"On that size (property), you could put upwards of 15 million to 20 million square feet," said Whitfield Hamilton, a regional partner for the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions with the Newport Beach, Calif.-based development firm.

Upon buying the Superspeedway site from current owner Dover Motorsports Inc. early next year and obtaining the rezoning, Panattoni's Tennessee operations plan to start work on one or two speculative industrial buildings in 2017.

The portion of the property with the racetrack would initially be left alone, with the developer keeping the door open to possibilities that might emerge, Hamilton said. He, however, was quick to point out that Panattoni isn't in the motorsports business.

A multiphased, multiyear project on the Gladeville site would add to Wilson County's reputation as a warehouse and distribution hub. With Panattoni today developing 10 industrial buildings around Nashville, the 1,400-acre site will help to replenish the company's inventory land.

"That’s a game-changer," said Buist Richardson, a principal with commercial real estate firm Avison Young's Nashville office. "It's just such a massive take-down of land, and Wilson County is so friendly for industrial development that I think it will be a great match."

Richardson cites good interstate visibility along State Route 840; availability of utilities, including water and sewer; and access to potential employees among positive attributes of the Superspeedway site.

Like Hamilton, he sees the possibility of attracting large manufacturers to portions of the overall property.

"Now Wilson County and Panatonni have the opportunity to go out and bring another Nissan or (tiremaker) Hankook," Richardson said. "That's a good play for a large manufacturer. When you're talking about really large super sites, we just don't have that kind of land in Nashville."

Nashville's record low vacancy rate for warehouse and flex space and strong industrial leasing activity also boost appeal of Panattoni's plans for the site. At the end of the recent second quarter, only 4.3 percent of industrial space in the overall Nashville-area market was vacant, according to Avison Young's tracking that includes 26 million square feet of warehouse space at 407 buildings in Wilson County.

The size of the Superspeedway site creates opportunities for Panattoni to develop large buildings or campuses for interested manufacturing, distribution and other clients, Hamilton said. "We’ve seen the deals in the bulk distribution arena get bigger and bigger and so that’s a large enough site," he said. "You can account for extra employee parking areas and truck parking areas ... ."

Over the past 15 years, Panattoni has developed more than 50 million square feet of space statewide. That includes at Beckwith Farms in Mt. Juliet, where the developer completed a 1.08 million-square-foot distribution center for sportswear maker Under Armour last year.

The Superspeedway site's current master-planned commercial zoning allows for tourism-related recreation. Light manufacturing, assembly warehousing and distribution also are allowable under that C4 category, but a revision is required to the master plan to list those uses.

For Dover Motorsports, the deal to sell the property to Panattoni's Tennessee operations provides relief after years of financial losses on its investments. The racetrack was largely shut down in 2011 after major events drew sluggish attendance.

"We would rather be running NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races out there, but no sense looking back," said Timothy R. Horne, Dover Motorsports' senior vice president of finance. "We're pretty excited about this one, and Panattoni is a strong company with a lot of experience out there in that market, so we’re optimistic about this transaction."

Under the deal, Panattoni would pay Dover Motorsports $27.5 million in cash for the Superspeedway facility along with some related equipment and assets. The developer also would assume Dover Motorsports' outstanding bond obligations totaling $17.2 million.

Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto said the bonds are a critical issue. "There could also be some zoning issues," he added. "They’ll have to comply with the zoning to see if the community is willing to accept it.”

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin, of Columbia, Tenn., considers it a shame that Nashville Superspeedway didn't work out, adding that the venue was never very fan-friendly or competitive with more established racetracks of its size.

“You get to building all those tracks at about the same time, all about the same distance, and it was hard to set yourself apart," Marlin said. "The location was tough. Really, everything about it was tough. ... But we’ve still got the Fairgrounds (Nashville)m and the Nashville 420 is still a good race that we run out there.”

Staff writers Andy Humbles and Mike Organ contributed to this report. Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.