The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Fate of speedway remains uncertain
Three months after auction garners no bidders, Lake County Speedway still for sale
It’s been nearly three months since a live auction for Lake County Speedway in Painesville Township failed to produce any bidders.
Since then, owner Andy McCartney said he and the real-estate agents working to sell the 1/5-mile, oval race track and its accompanying 15 acres have yet to close a deal.
“We’ve had several groups of folks that have worked to make an offer, but haven’t had any that made it to a position to be able to put a purchase agreement together,” McCartney wrote in a July 18 e-mail exchange.
In a March 16 News-Herald article, which was published following a news release the previous day from Hanna Commercial Real Estate/Chartwell Real Estate Auctions, about the then-upcoming auction for the property, McCartney said he and the group thought an auction format would facilitate its smooth continuation as a NASCAR-sanctioned race track into the 2017 season.
“We wanted to be able to offer a seamless transition of ownership while still keeping the continuity of NASCAR’s 2017 season,” McCartney states in the news release. “Everything is in place for a new owner to purchase the property and begin
“Everything is in place for a new owner to purchase the property and begin the scheduled spring season in May.” — Owner Andy McCartney
the scheduled spring season in May.”
But the auction came and went without a single bid from the crowd. The unused track and the surrounding, mostly vacant property has stood virtually dormant ever since.
Afterward, McCartney said it was a disappointment not to have been able to strike a deal.
“Oh, it’s disappointing, for sure,” he said immediately following the live, open-cry auction April 21 which lasted only a few minutes and did not even reach the $400,000 opening bid.
“I wanted to give somebody the opportunity to still run it as a track. Now, we’re on to plan C, D and E. It’s not even plan B anymore. So now it’s just time to re-evaluate and look for another buyer.”
Real estate broker and Ohio auctioneer R.M. “Mac” Biggar, who announced the April 21 auction, said then that he was optimistic the property would be sold before too long.
“I think there are a lot of interested bidders out there who were not able to make it here today,” he said following the auction. “We’ll be hearing from them in the coming weeks.”
Gordon Greene, fellow auctioneer and Hanna Commercial Real Estate principal and managing director, who assisted Biggar April 21, concurred. Greene also said then that he expected a buyer to come forward in short order.
Hanna Commercial Real Estate agent Greg West said it’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along too often.
“Rarely are these privately owned race tracks ever offered for sale to the public, let alone in an environment in which any interested party can practically name their own price,” West stated in the March 15 Hanna release.
Nonetheless, it’s been almost three months to the day since the auction. And a buyer for the Lake County Speedway has yet to materialize.
McCartney, who has owned Lake County Speedway LLC since 2010 and brought NASCAR to Painesville Township, seems optimistic a buyer will purchase the property at 500 Fairport Nursery Road soon.
“There are still a few folks working to try and get a deal done and I’m hopeful that I’ll have some news for you within the next few weeks,” he writes.