Centennial Kart Track in Colorado Looking for New Operator

Saw this just now on the gram

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Yep it’s been the talk of CO karting of course.

My 0.02 is that the airport would have to be absolute morons to really think “you know what would be a great idea for this land after 2 failed go kart businesses? Another go kart business!” But here we are.

Hope someone takes it over. It’s a complicated situation.

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If it gets cold enough for ice there I have an idea…

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It does snow can confirm. But ice weather is rare and far between.

I think that’s the big issue with it failing. I doubt enough customers will come when it’s cold even though it’s dry, you’d need to make your money during summer and mothball it during winter with a few pop up snow days.

Unless you can come up with an out of the box winter usage it’s never going to succeed.

What is the actual timeline for reasonable activity in that market? March 1- November 30?

If the terms are right a track can be succesful in as short as a 7 month cycle. But it requires the lessee to control all facets of the cash flow - rentals, corporates, racing, instruction, retail sales, retail service, storage and garage rentals.

But it takes every single facet because not one of those 7 can pay even a quarter of the cost to run a facility.

If the airport is willing to listen to what it takes to get a project off the ground and have some flexibility in the lease structure, it’s a viable proposition. If they want return from day one and don’t buy in to a long term project/partner, it will be tough.

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Let’s put in a Kartpulse group proposal? See how deep the rabbit hole goes :grin:

On the face of it, with a catchment population of 700k, a local GDP per capita at $60k or thereabouts and only 2 indoor kart centers currently there, it ought to be a very profitable business in the right hands.

Who’s in? I’m game I’ve got a decent business plan template.

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Actually looks nice for a rental facility. Needs a clubhouse and an inside pitlane though. Also it would be great to organize a rental league, sprint and enduro, especially during the winter to ensure an income in the low season.

Surprisingly, the layout is great for an older US track. Not much to change IMO.

There’s a couple of vids on YT, really looks like a great track. Few tweaks with kerbs it could be properly awesome.

I believe from a few forum threads about it the land lease rates from the owner were astronomical, making it hardly possible to break even let alone turn a profit. Unless there’s a lot of wiggle room nobody will take it on.

Reduce the lease cost in favour of a percentage equity everyone wins. Some just want the moon on a stick though. Be interesting to know what the owner is looking for now, maybe they got fed up of it sitting idle.

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I was thinking snow canons and studded tires :joy:

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You’d think that, but a local kart track actually had a really good rental kart turnout and very active performance karting community there. It’s right next to the airport but also right near some massive corporate centers and Denver Tech Center isn’t far away.

The main issue as far as I understand it was the rent of the land was really really aggressive, and only more aggressive as time went on, and because it’s on FAA regulated land there were serious limitations to what could and couldn’t be improved. They had to run everything off of generators for example, and it was very difficult to get property ad ons or advertising.

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If we can get some rent control going then maybe it has a chance. I also wonder if being by an airport hinders night running.

In winter studdless tires would work (I know a guy) with snow cannons, although they need a colossal amount of water and power. Tanguy made a good point in that since the surface is paved, you really only need some snow down to make some skids.

20mins from Denver is good and there’s also this. Tourism Facts and Figures | VISIT DENVER

So how about that rent :laughing:

If @Matt_Geist gets bored enough, I guarantee he can tell you what the numbers need to be to make it work. Dude has those nerdy business smarts.

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Numbers needed to make it work depends on the overheads imposed. Rent seems to be the major obstacle

Playing on flight simulator today. Gonna see if can land a savage Cub on it.

How many feet do you need to land?

:joy::joy::joy: epic.

I did shoot off an enquiry to get an idea what they’re looking for deal wise. No answer this far

I can’t see why the FAA would put heavy restrictions on what you can build there, for sure you have to file a part 77 notification advising them what you will build so it can be added to a GPWS database for the airport but that’s about it. That runway doesn’t have an ILS so there’s no ILS sensitive area to be worried about interfering with.

I find it very interesting, and yeah @KartingIsLife 17 MILLION :scream: visitors to Denver a year. Jesus it could be a gold mine.

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I onboarded a recent acquisition for our company right around the corner not too long ago, had no clue there was a track there. I’d make more market visits back there if the track was back under operation!!!

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The track is “owned” by Denver Jetcenter, they lease a land and buildings from the airport itself including the land the track is on. Denver Jetcenter is ultimately owned by billionare James Neal Blue. I dont think favorable lease terms are ultimately going to come for this as they really are not a cash strapped company.

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I wonder why it’s remained a kart track then vs storage or some other en-vogue real estate thing. FAA putting a kabosh on it maybe?