SOURCE: San Antonio Business Journal - May 25, 2007
by W. Scott Bailey

Imagine a country club resort of sorts, where the centerpiece of the development, the quiet course typically lined with sand traps and ponds and whispering golfers, is replaced by a twisting, turning trail of concrete and asphalt and the thundering roar of engines racing.

That is the plan one Boerne entrepreneur is pursuing as he pushes forward with a proposed world class private motorsports resort that would be tucked into the Texas Hill Country somewhere between San Antonio and Austin.

Steve Patti and his Motorsports Resorts International team is pursuing funding and a location for a multimillion-dollar project that would mix the sport of auto racing and vacation into a single Hill Country development. Once completed, it could serve as a private retreat for owners of high-end sports cars and corporate gatherings, as well as a site for race team testing and public events including sanctioned professional races and other entertainment.

The working name for the development is Bergrennenring, which is German for hill race circuit. The master plan includes a competition-quality open road track designed by internationally acclaimed Formula One track design firm Tilke.

The project would also include a clubhouse, day spa and other resort facilities and amenities, as well as an exclusive residential development.

The development would, in large part, be geared toward car club enthusiasts, who would have access to the tracks via memberships.

There are similar developments outside the Houston and Dallas areas and in other parts of the United States. But this would be the first facility of its kind in the San Antonio-Austin area.

"We have an opportunity to do something in the Hill Country that is already being done in other parts of the nation," Patti explains. "These facilities are making money, and they're growing faster than they can manage their membership base. Why can't we do that here?"

Filling a need

Among those familiar with the plans is Greg Gallaspy, executive director of the Paseo del Rio Association and a former professional race car driver who earned the nickname "Crash" at a San Antonio Grand Prix event nearly two decades ago.

"I think they have a great concept," says Gallaspy about Patti and his team. "This would be a first-class resort and it's an idea that can work."

One reason it could work, according to Gallaspy: "Pro (racing) teams are looking for more areas where they can train.

He says Bergrennenring is a place where Indy car teams, for example, could look to do some of their auto testing, relying on the proximity of two important metropolitan areas for infrastuctural and even promotional support.

Some of that support could ultimately come from the companies who sell some of these high-end cars members would drive at such a facility.

Matt Burkholder is general manager of Barrett Motor Cars. The San Antonio dealer sells Jaguars, Ferraris and Maseratis. Says Burkholder, who is also familiar with Patti's plans: "I definitely think there is a market and a need for this." Burkholder adds, "There is a vacancy in this ... market that needs to be filled. I think there are enough people who would be interested in participating."

Patti says the rate of growth in San Antonio and Austin supports the notion that the area can support such a project. "There's a lot of money here, a lot of development activity," he says.

Tourism boost

Patti says the plan is to develop the resort somewhere along the U.S. Highway 281 corridor between San Antonio and Austin, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.

Leaders in at least one community within that area are attempting to attract the project to their immediate vicinity. Recently in Johnson City, council members unanimously passed a proclamation of support of the motorsport resort development.

Johnson City officials confirm that the project would include a 1.8 mile general use road course with parking and limited amenities.

Patti says the second phase would include a 2.5 mile professional road course with permanent seating for as many as 20,000 race fans, along with a clubhouse, day spa and other amenities.

Johnson City officials believe the proposed development would stimulate tourism and economic development in the area. Patti says the Hill Country area presents an opportunity to tap into and also help grow the hospitality industry in the region. He says the 281 corridor area has a unique attractiveness to it as a destination that could be beneficial to and boosted by a motorsport resort.

Is the San Antonio-Austin market ready for something like this?

"I truly believe that it is," Gallaspy says, adding that the racing element of the proposed development "would be great for our city."

The key to bringing the development together Gallaspy insists: "You have to get together the right investors."

Patti says his group is currently in the process of closing out the first round of funding for phase one of what is expected to be a three-phase project. The balance of that funding, he hopes, will come from within the Lone Star State.

Once built, who would come to the proposed motorsport resort?

"Very affluent six-figure (income) households who bring investment money with them and put up weekend residences," Patti says. "We want to put together a vacation attraction, a facility that has some privileges and amenities only available to the private members and some hosted events for the public."

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