Upscale motorsports park planned

$25 million project to build ‘an automotive social experience’ in Maricopa

A Scottsdale company said it is under contract to purchase 280 acres in the city of Maricopa to develop a motorsports racing and social club featuring a 4-mile asphalt track, a clubhouse and upscale garages for vehicles.

Private Motorsports Group plans to break ground on the $25 million project in the second quarter of 2017 and complete it toward the middle or end of 2018.

Other planned amenities at the Apex Motorsports Club include dining and meeting rooms, locker rooms, a fitness center, a tuning shop and a fuel station, with roughly 200 “condominiums” for storing vehicles ranging up to 1,800 square feet or so that members may purchase. The facility also will have a separate track and facilities for racing karts, designed for children and other family members.

“This will be an automotive social experience, where you can rub elbows with like-minded individuals,” said Jason Plotke, chief executive officer of the Scottsdale company. “It’s really a country club built around autos rather than golf.”

Private Motorsports Group, founded in 2014, doesn’t yet operate any other such venues, but does host various automotive events at other tracks. Plotke said the automotive country-club concept has been spreading around the country — to facilities near New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other cities. His company’s proposed site on the west side of Maricopa would be the closest to a major metro center, he said.

The company estimates the facility eventually will attract about 450 members paying $18,000 to $75,000 apiece in one-time membership fees, plus annual expenses of $4,000 to $6,000. Corporate memberships will sell for $120,000, plus $12,000 in annual fees. Go to apexmotorclub.com for more information.

“It could be a guy with a Mustang or a guy with a new Ferrari,” Plotke said. “It could be anyone from a weekend warrior to automotive aficionados and collectors.”