Developer plans Formula 1 track at defunct Atlantic City airport

It’s not exactly “Start your engines,” but the key appears to be in the ignition.

The Atlantic City City Council last week gave the go-ahead to a $2.7 billion development that will convert the shuttered Bader Field airport into a Formula 1 racetrack, condominiums and retail businesses, NJ.com reported. 

The council voted 8-0, with one abstention, to OK a memorandum of understanding with DEEM Enterprises for its Bader Field project, according to the outlet.

The development on the 140-acre defunct airport, which closed in 2006, will have a nearly 2.5-mile Formula 1 course that is overlooked by condominiums and retail businesses. 

The project also calls for about 10.8 megawatts of solar panels on condo roofs and other available roof space throughout the design.

Construction will take up to nine years, according to Michael Binder, who represents the developers.

“[It] is going to not only change the landscape of Atlantic City but give our taxpayers much needed relief like never before,” Democratic Mayor Marty Small Sr. said, according to CBS Philadelphia. 

Bader Field, which opened in the early 20th century, was among the first airports in the U.S. It’s owned by the city.

Race tracks have been en vogue of late. 

In January, construction began on the 273-acre Motorsports Gateway Howell automotive district in Howell, Michigan. 

Phase 1 of a $60 million district, by the father-and-son development team Mark and Jordan Dick, will include a 2.2-mile driving circuit (to be constructed following international safety standards), a clubhouse, rentable garages, private garage condos and a nature trail, according to the release and M-Live.

Racing is a big deal in the development team’s family. Jordan is a race car driver who, with his father, owns an indoor go-kart center in Michigan.

The 1,200-square-foot garage condos will provide members with front-row seats — either from the ground level or the second-floor balconies — to the action on the track. The condos will also include 16-foot-wide garage doors, a concrete floor, energy-efficient windows and HVAC systems and fire suppression systems.

— Ted Glanzer