The global economy’s far reach just hit Tooele County in a big way.
The impact came last Tuesday when the Tooele County Commission announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to sell Miller Motorsports Park to a Chinese company for $20 million. Unless the deal suddenly sours, the facility will be renamed Utah Motorsports Campus come Jan. 1, 2016.
As we reported in last Thursday’s edition, the name of the Chinese company is Mitime Investment and Development Group. Mitime is owned by Chinese billionaire industrialist Li Shufu. Shufu also owns the Geely Group of Companies, which is hailed as China’s largest independent auto and motorcycle manufacturer. Geely owns Volvo and is building a new Volvo plant in South Carolina. Geely claimed revenues in excess of $23 billion in 2013.
Shufu founded Geely in 1986. He is known to have used creativity and determination to overcome huge business hurdles to succeed in communist China.
It’s good to know that the man who wants to buy Miller Motorsports Park understands the value of hard work — and appears to be a capitalist. But for a facility the late Larry H. Miller reportedly invested more than $100 million into, what Shufu has offered to pay — and the commissioners have agreed to take — at first sounds like a steal, not a deal.
Yet, before critics blast the commissioners for not getting more cash, two key points need to be remembered: First, the 511-acre facility was appraised at $26 million to $28 million by the county and an independent appraiser. Second, it’s hard to ask for more money for a racetrack that struggled to turn a profit since it opened in 2006 — a struggle made public when the Larry H. Miller Group announced in May that it would walk away from the facility this fall.
But there is more to this arrangement between Mitime and the county that makes it align with the commissioners’ plan to find a buyer passionate about racing and willing to invest more money into the facility beyond the initial purchase price.
In its proposal to the county, Mitime intends to continue current operations at the racetrack, and to keep as many of the current Miller Motorsports Park employees as possible. Furthermore, it wants to turn the racetrack into a “comprehensive motor sports education and technology development facility” for China’s fledgling automotive racing industry.
Plans include building an oval racetrack, Rally-X course, a drag strip, a hotel, classrooms and more to support the Utah Motorsports Campus’ business and education operations. Mitime also intends to build race cars there and then ship them to China.
All of which will cost millions of dollars to construct, staff and sustain. And all of which will contribute to the area’s property and sales tax base. Mitime believes its goals for the racetrack could generate more than $1 billion in economic benefit to the county over the next 25 years.
It sounds almost too good to be true. But if Mitime does move forward with all of its plans, Tooele County’s economy will benefit. The commissioners are congratulated and thanked for negotiating a deal that appears to have the county’s best interest at heart. And Mitime is congratulated for having the vision to create this opportunity for Miller Motorsports Park.