Austin F1 NOT a done deal ..........yet

[Mhanis]

From Autoweek:

By ALAN PEASE on 6/22/2011
 


The saga of Formula One in Austin, Texas, and the under-construction Circuit of the Americas is a plot full of twists and turns worthy of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. And various issues once again took center stage at Tuesday's city council public work session.
 

The seven-member Austin City Council is on Thursday supposed to vote on whether to endorse the Circuit of the Americas facility--and thereby allow the race promoters to collect the $25 million subsidy offered by the State of Texas via its Major Events Trust Fund. But confusion still reigns.
 

Austin's mayor, the city manager, the city legal department, a representative of the Texas comptroller's office, six of the seven council members, city staff and counsel for F1 Circuit of the Americas, Richard Suttle, all gathered in the room on Tuesday, but no one seemed able to explain several contentious issues to the satisfaction of those present--and this work session did not even include public input. That comes on Thursday. Tuesday's session was held in an attempt to calm the city council's fear--and, of course, get it to sign on the dotted line.


Among the issues apparently still unresolved: Where, exactly, is the money coming from, and where it is going? At the moment, F1 Circuit of the Americas has offered to pay a $4 million annual figure--for all 10 years of the contract with Formula One Management--which will in turn trigger the $25 million annual payment from the State of Texas, through the City of Austin, to the promoters of the Circuit of the Americas and on to Formula One Management in the U.K.
 

Lots of other questions remain, such as how much will all of the support services supplied by the city--police, fire, EMS, sanitation, etc.--cost, and who will pay for them? What about the road conditions and capacties out near the track, and transportation in general?


From an on-the-scene scene perspective: In the middle of last week, with no official, notable or major tourist events on the Austin area's calendar, the W Hotel in downtown Austin was at full capacity. Simultaneously, most--and at times all--of the rental cars and parking places at the airport were spoken for. The F1 promoters plan to add 120,000 people to this mix next year, in 100-degree daily temperatures. On Tuesday, a morning news program described major traffic congestion on Interstate 35, which rolls through downtown Austin, as "America's Parking Lot." So it's not hard to see why concerns remain at the local level.
 

While Austin is home to sold-out seasons of University of Texas football, along with the annual SXSW Music, Film and Interactive festivals for 10 days each March and the increasingly popular annual Austin City Limits Festival, all of these gatherings occur right in downtown, walking distance from many hotels, restaurants and shops.
 

The Circuit of the Americas track is located southeast of Austin in the same Travis County, but just barely. As of now, there is no public transportation to the track and only one decent two-lane road (FM 812), which will be restriped to accommodate race-day traffic by, (according to the latest plan submitted by F1 Circuit of the Americas), contra-flowing an additional lane, yielding three lanes outbound after the race. Estimates vary as to the length of traffic delays following the race. The promoters cite times "just under three hours," while a county study said it could take more than 12 hours for traffic to clear.


There are the unresolved legal issues, which meeting to meeting have remained unresolved. City of Austin legal staff tried to explain to several skeptical council members the various points of agreement still to be negotiated. But rather than clearing the points up, the explanations led to more confusion.
 

Council member Sheryl Cole asked whether the city had considered outside legal counsel to help with understanding and preparing for everything involved in hosting an F1 event in Austin, since the city had never attempted an event of this magnitude before.
 

Council member Chris Riley asked about the track's carbon footprint, whether the race facility will honor "green" initiatives important to the city, and where a plan stands to include bicyclists' access to the event. Another council member even suggested a proposal for a community garden.
 

Council member Randi Shade was not present at Tuesday's session. Shade is believed to be in favor of F1, though she has not committed one way or the other publicly. Still, her defeat in the regular election held in May triggered a $500,000 runoff election held last weekend in which she was defeated again. Many in Austin believe Shade's defeat was related largely to city development and F1 in particular, since she was backed heavily by development and pro-business money, according to election filings.
 

Nonetheless, at a brief media question-and-answer period following Tuesday's session, Suttle expressed confidence again. He said he believes that Thursday's city council vote will be in favor of F1, citing the event's positive projected economic impact and his own "natural optimism."
 

Even if the support measure passes, previously recognized, practical issues remain. On the hotel front alone, several calls and visits on Tuesday to Austin-area hotels and hotel Web sites yielded responses of either "no availability" or "unable to book at this time" for the F1 dates in June next year.
 

While various estimates of available hotels in the area yield different results depending on who you talk to, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau states that there are 5,500 hotel rooms in downtown Austin and an additional 20,500 rooms inside the city limits.
 

With 120,000 fans potentially attending the inaugural F1 race on June 17, 2012, it's not too early to try and book a room. Hopefully, it's not already too late.





While I don't think this means doomsday for the race it is clearly not as much a done deal as the race organizers would have you believe.


Discuss:

[Cher]

It is no different than Texas Motor Speedway.  To say that track had teething pains would be an understatement.  Split banking ring a bell?    And I think the only hotel out in that part of town originally was the Westin right across 114.  Now there are quite a few but it has taken a decade.  I imagine the Austin circuit will develop in the same way.

I'm going to be down there visiting my folks in a few weeks so I plan to get some pix for the scrapbook 

[fastwin]

If the Austin City Council is anything like it used to be they will find a way to f#@k it up. My friends who live in Austin refer to it as the Socialist Republic of Travis County. Just wait until someone at the City Council meeting complains about all the pollutants coming from the F1 exhausts. It'll happen.

[LYD]

if its not a done deal yet.  Then who is already paying for the construction going on now??  and what about moto gp? is that a done deal yet??

[Jester]

There is too much future revenue for Austin to scrap this project.  Sure the traffic sucks and the town is booked.  What else is new and who cares?  People can stay in San Antonio/Hill Country and drive up for all the partying and festivities if lodging is in short supply.  Its not that far.   

People need stories to write.

[Mhanis]

I'd be willing to bet that the group that put this together was assuming they would get the money and the vote from the Austin city council.

To be sure the promoter and his investment group have put a LOT of money into the track to get it up and running, but there is a SHITLOAD more to it than building a track. Hell, look at Cressen or Eagles Canyon, there are tracks there, but no infrastructure. Now with those tracks it is OK to not have infrastructure, but to hold an F1 race you needs LOTS of other stuff in addition to the track; and a LOT of that stuff will come from the city, county and state.......and that involves politics; always a sketchy bargin.

I agree with the above statement that it is too far along to let die and I believe that the Austin city council will do the right thing and send the money they need.

But.....................remember the Super Conducting Super Collider..........it was too big to stop too.............


Just saying...............NOTHING is done until it is done when it comes to government of ANY level.

That being said; the track has contracts in place for BOTH F1 and MotoGP............I think it will still happen.


Mark

[muskrat]

Move it to Dallas and stick it to the them!  Austin has created their own problem with traffic and trying to be too "green"

[caffeinejunkee]

The plot thickens... 


"Local lawsuit filed against state’s Formula One subsidy"


http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/racing/entries/2011/06/22/local_lawsuit_filed_against_st.html

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/racing/upload/2011/06/local_lawsuit_filed_against_st/KMBT35020110622150901.pdf

[Cher]

Move it to Dallas and stick it to the them!  Austin has created their own problem with traffic and trying to be too "green"

Absolutely spot on.  I'm from Austin and every time I go home to visit I'm astonished at the lack of foresight and pig-headedness involved in their city "planning."

Astronomical local taxes and a refusal to make/expand roads that reflect the city's current population (not that of the 1960's) has clearly not discouraged people from moving there.


O.K. now I'm depressed  Must be time for a second cup of coffee  

[muskrat]

Wait did you agree with me publicly?   

Their planning purely stinks.  You referenced the 60's; I think fast win was already living there 40 years so he can chime in

[fastwin]

I didn't even have electricty or running water back then and the roads weren't paved.

[muskrat]

I didn't even have electricty or running water back then and the roads weren't paved.

weren't you a pallbearer at Wyat Earps funeral?  that's about the same time.

[fastwin]

That was a sad day. Remember it well.

[muskrat]

Were you his huckleberry?   

[Mhanis]

An editorial from Autoweek:


By DUTCH MANDEL on 6/22/2011
 


As the editorial director of America's largest racing magazine and a guy who has grown up around racing and racers, who has worked for a professional race team and who was weaned on horsepower and Castrol fumes, I have two words for the Austin City Council and its constituents before Thursday's vote to bless the proposed 2012 Austin Grand Prix:
 
Run away.
 
I don't say this out of spite or malice. I want a Formula One event in the United States as much as anyone does. But Austin is already what's right in America! It's a city that's, by almost all accounts, vibrant and exciting, filled with great music, people and food. It has extraordinary educational facilities and fantastic surrounding scenery and carries a thoughtful and an eclectic vibe. Austin is comfortable in its own skin, and as a resident of a city--Detroit--that has long yearned to redefine itself and its reputation, I say that if you allow Bernie Ecclestone and his F1 circus to attach themselves remora-like to you, dear Austin, it will be an enormous and very expensive lesson.

If I read correctly, the Austin race organizers are ready to pay $4 million annually to trigger access to a Texas state fund and, later on, access to revenue generated by sales tax attributable directly to the race that will cover the $25 million or so that Ecclestone charges promoters each year to host F1.
 
Hey, I want that deal. For $40 million I give you, you give me a quarter billion, right?

You council members know to whom the money flows, right? Take a Google gander at Ecclestone, he who holds F1's marketing rights. (You may stumble on recent news accounts of his 22-year-old daughter, Petra, who last week paid $85 million for Candy Spelling's Los Angeles-area mansion . . . to go with her $90 million crib in London. But I digress.)

Know that nothing happens without Bernie's approval and his piece of the take. Nothing. If you want a "green space," he'll get his green, too. The local "Rattlesnake Burgers" sold trackside for $10 a pop? Mr. E probably takes $3 apiece.
 
The point, gentle people of Austin, is not to be rushed into doing anything you don't want to do. If after sufficient due diligence--surely you've talked with past U.S. F1 organizers and city fathers from, say, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Watkins Glen, Long Beach and Detroit and heard their collective tale of woe. If you want to offer up keys (and every other city part) to F1, that's your choice. But think about this: If the cradle of American motorsports, the home of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, failed to keep F1 in America, what makes Austin--not the promoters, who have a bunch of reasons, maybe quite true, for why they are different--think it can succeed? Again, I'm talking to the fine people of Austin, not the people directly behind the track project.
 
Remember: Bernie always gets his money. Always.

Again, I like F1. AutoWeek has covered Grand Prix racing for all of our 53 years. I wake early to watch qualifying live from exotic locales such as Monaco and Seoul.
 
I just don't want to see you hurt. I like your city too much to have that happen.