Open letter to city of Austin from AutoWeek editor, re F1, run away! (Dallas: mortgages, attorneys)

[verybadgnome]

Compared to the deal worked out three hours north of here we got a good deal:

"To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 0.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding"

[jobert]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Compared to the deal worked out three hours north of here we got a good deal:

"To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 0.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding"

Coincidentally, two major 1,000+ room downtown hotels have been announced since construction started on the COTA. I'm sure investors took the construction of the track into consideration. Even with the most pessimistic attendance figures, hotels in this town are going to make a fortune from F1.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by jobert

Coincidentally, two major 1,000+ room downtown hotels have been announced since construction started on the COTA. I'm sure investors took the construction of the track into consideration.

Please name those hotels and provide links.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by cBach

Please name those hotels and provide links.

sure... apologies:

One is being developed by the Manchester Texas Financial Group and the operator will most likely be a Hilton brand - located between the Convention Center and Waller Creek:
Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas | Statesman.com

The other is called the "Marriott Marquis" at 2nd/Congress:
Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas | Statesman.com




Timing of the race is also crucial..I personally feel that an April or May race would be optimal considering the climate and occupancy rates:

http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/dynamic/00790/WEB0320occupancyrat_790477e.jpg (broken link)

[cBach]

I think that F1 has the most chance of success in Austin over any other city, even Indianapolis. Remember, we don't have any professional sports here, while Indy has the Colts, Pacers, etc...

We are not really a NASCAR community, we are well educated and well traveled, so we lean towards F1 or we can lean that way, if F1 advertises and gets more people interested. They will have to actively get the community's interest piqued in the sport.

I am really excited, I just hope it's all that I imagine it to be. The key will be the first event will have to be a smashing success.

[centralaustinite]

Bernie E is such a nasty guy, though. Ugh. I hate the thought of enriching him. F1 globally seems to be in a bit of trouble financially, the traditional audiences aren't showing up, hence the need to push into the Middle East and North America. The Economist had a piece on F1 a few weeks ago (will post the link when I find it), not about Austin but about their troubles more generally -- starting with the financial arrangements and Bernie E in particular.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Bernie E is such a nasty guy, though. Ugh. I hate the thought of enriching him. F1 globally seems to be in a bit of trouble financially, the traditional audiences aren't showing up, hence the need to push into the Middle East and North America. The Economist had a piece on F1 a few weeks ago (will post the link when I find it), not about Austin but about their troubles more generally -- starting with the financial arrangements and Bernie E in particular.

So what is the endgame here?

We have MotoGP, concerts, triathalons, and F1 for 25MM/year..

or

We have MotoGP, ACL, and Triathalons, and (no F1) for free?

To be honest, either option is fine with me, but that's not my call, and I'm not sure the second option is even possible as it's in the hands of McCombs, Epstein, Hellmund, et al.


Don't get me wrong, I would love to see F1 here, but the only problem I see is that there are no explicit promises of research facilities or other developments at this complex..just renderings thus far. It's not just about the track or the visitors, but what comes with it that will benefit Austin year-round, and those facilities (not just the track and grandstands) need to be guaranteed. There needs to be more concessions from the developer, such as LOCAL carbon offsets in the forms of nature preserves or the planting of forests in eastern Travis county. Even though I voted for Shade, I'm glad the vote was put off for further review. The city council appears to have the leverage for the time being to do so, and they should use it. This can go still through as planned, but Austin could get more concessions out of FIA and the developers. More of a win for Austin if done right.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by jobert

sure... apologies:

One is being developed by the Manchester Texas Financial Group and the operator will most likely be a Hilton brand - located between the Convention Center and Waller Creek:
Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas | Statesman.com

The other is called the "Marriott Marquis" at 2nd/Congress:
Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas | Statesman.com




Timing of the race is also crucial..I personally feel that an April or May race would be optimal considering the climate and occupancy rates:

Why such the dip in December? I would think some snowbirds would want to escape the northern winter down here?

[gpurcell]

Why do people insist on perseverating on this "$25 million a year." It's not coming out of Austin's hide--if we don't get it it will go to another city in Texas.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Bernie E is such a nasty guy, though. Ugh. I hate the thought of enriching him. F1 globally seems to be in a bit of trouble financially, the traditional audiences aren't showing up, hence the need to push into the Middle East and North America. The Economist had a piece on F1 a few weeks ago (will post the link when I find it), not about Austin but about their troubles more generally -- starting with the financial arrangements and Bernie E in particular.

Bernie definitely shares some responsibility for his reputation, especially in the USA, affecting the CoTA and fueling all this hate in Austin. He's certainly done very little to improve his awful reputation, perhaps he even relishes it.

But in reality, many (I'd almost go as far as saying MOST) business people who get to the top are just like him. They have the type A personality that gets them in trouble, but also allows them to roll over everything and everybody without a conscious slowing them down.

I don't think Tavo or CoTA share the values or traits of Bernie, but when you are dealing with F1, he's the only game in town.. or on earth, for that matter. And let's not pretend we don't deal with business people and politicians who are just like him all the time -- maybe they don't have the press exposure, but they are 100% just as bad. They just aren't weird looking foreigners with funny accents.