Private country club for car enthusiasts coming to Maricopa

MARICOPA — Hours after Lucid Motors announced its $700 million electrical car plant coming to Casa Grande, the City of Maricopa locked in another reason for car buffs to feast in Pinal County.

Scottsdale-based Private Motorsports Group will buy two hundred eighty acres of land from development company El Dorado Holdings — one of the largest real estate developers in Pinal County — via a contract to construct and establish Apex Motor Club. The $25 million private country club will be located near State Routes three hundred forty seven and 238.

Private Motorsports Group, a membership-based club, provides racing locales to area car enthusiasts.

A Wednesday news release — which dubs the project a “first-of-its-kind” where members can race and store their prized sports cars — states that the club will suggest a multi-configuration asphalt road course up to four miles, a 12,000 square foot clubhouse with dining rooms indoor and outdoor, lounges, meeting rooms, a fitness center, a karting facility and kart shop, tuning shop and more.

It was designed by Bob Barnard of Motorsports Service International — whom Private Motorsports Group spokesman Matt Williams said is an internationally known designer — and will be constructed by Phoenix-based LGE.

Private Motorsports Group CEO Jason Plotke said in the release it will be a “lifestyle destination for high-end automobile enthusiasts.”

Members can even own garage space, Williams said, to keep a vehicle at the club.

There will be about two hundred of the condominiums ranging from six hundred to 1,800 square feet on the property.

“We did a pretty extensive search of property all over the metro Phoenix area,” Williams said of the group’s decision to base their country club in Maricopa.

The site fit a number of criteria, including its proximity to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix and the necessary typography.

“We are excited about Apex’s decision to build their motorsports club in Maricopa,” Mayor Christian Price said in the release. “The uniqueness of their development adds value to the City of Maricopa. It will, without a doubt, proceed to add to Maricopa’s economic vitality and growth.”

Price did not come back a call by press time for further comment.

Williams said the concept of the attraction will be “just like a country club,” substituting the more typically-seen amenity of a golf course out with a race track and vehicles. Only members will be permitted to utilize the club’s attractions.

There are similar clubs in the southwest region, tho’, including one in Willcox, one in Las Vegas, Nevada and one in Palm Springs, California.

Additionally, clubs in Los Angeles, California, Fresh York, Fresh York and Chicago, Illinois suggest their own club tracks.

“The thickest thing is convenience,” for club members, Williams said of the difference inbetween Apex Motor Club and similar locations, painting the picture of a club-goer who wants to eat lunch in one of the Apex dining rooms, spend the afternoon around the racetrack and be home by dinner.

“We’re just fortunate here in the state of Arizona,” he said, to find a “favorable lump of land” to make that happen.

The project has developed and evolved over the past two years, and is expected to break ground in the 2nd quarter of 2017, with construction expected to take about eighteen months.

According to the news release, Private Motorsports Group estimates four hundred fifty members will eventually utilize the Apex Motor Club at a cost ranging from $Legal,000 to $75,000, with inquiries from two hundred forty existing Private Motorsports Group members so far.

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