Condos
Longtime stock-car entrepreneur O. Bruton Smith has enjoyed success by building condos at raceways. To date, Smith and his partners at Speedway Motorsports have built 164 condominiums at speedways in Atlanta, Concord, N.C., and outside Fort Worth, Texas. More units are planned for Las Vegas. In March, Smith announced plans to build 120 condo units at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Prices are expected to range from $600,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $4.5 million for a three-bedroom penthouse.
Robert Puentes, with the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, believes Smith may be spearheading an important trend by combining sports facilities and housing. With changing attitudes toward cities and urban living, the leap to this type of lifestyle is not so far to make anymore. More cities are expected to embrace the trend.