Planned sale of Miller Motorsports Park to Chinese corporation halted

The saga of Miller Motorsports Park in Utah is apparently continuing, as a Tooele County court judge on Thursday vacated the planned sale of the picturesque racing facility to Mitime Utah Investment LLC, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the huge Chinese conglomerate that now owns the former Swedish Volvo automobile brand. According to local news outlets in Salt Lake City, Tooele County Third District Judge Robert Adkins ruled in favor of Center Point Management, the Wyoming-based development company that lost out on buying the property during the bidding process several months ago. As part of its lawsuit against Tooele County, Center Point cites the sale did not go to the highest bidder, violating local ordinances and state law that prohibit the sale of County-owned property for anything less than full and adequate consideration. The Tooele County Commission voted in favor of selling the property to the Chinese corporation for $20 million two months ago, after the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies decided not to renew its lease of the land after a management restructuring took place in the former family-run LHMGP following the death of CEO Larry H. Miller, the primary benefactor behind the construction of the impressive $85 million facility.

Center Point Management will reportedly continue with its pursuit of the purchase of Miller Motorsports Park, and is said to have upped its bid to $28 million (from the original $27 million); there was no word whether Mitime would be increasing their bid. The lawsuit stemmed from Center Point's contention that Tooele County awarded the sale of the racing facility to Mitime despite its lower bid, basing the decision on Mitime's extensive planned upgrades to the property that included a factory for construction of hillclimb race trucks and various racing cars, development of classroom education and training programs, including operating a comprehensive driver training program for roadracing, oval track racing, and off-road racing, plus the addition of a 3/8ths-mile oval track with stadium seating, Rally-X course, and possibly a drag strip. Mitime said that total added investment over the next decade would be around $270 million. Center Point was reportedly planning on some $140 million worth of upgrades that included homes and condos on the facility grounds.