Loans for $756M to Turn Fontana Speedway into Warehouses

Hillwood Investment Properties and CBRE Investment Management have scored $756 million in construction loans to build 6.6 million square feet of warehouses on a former stock car racetrack near Fontana.

The Dallas-based developer led by billionaire Ross Perot Jr. and the New York-based investment firm received the financing package for its Speedway Commerce Center at 9300 Cherry Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported.

It will replace NASCAR’s Auto Club Speedway, which closed last year.

Bank OZK, based in Arkansas, provided a $575 million senior loan for the first phase of the project, while BDT & MSD Partners provided $200 million in mezzanine loans, an unidentified source told the Observer.

In February last year, the billionaire developer bought most of the 633-acre racetrack in an unincorporated area near Fontana for $559 million, or more than $1 million an acre.

The seller of the vaunted 2-mile oval was NASCAR International Speedway, which retained 90 acres to potentially build a half-mile track.

Hillwood has broken ground on the first two buildings at the Speedway Commerce Center, approved for up to 6.6 million square feet of logistics warehouses space, along with 185-foot concrete truck courts and more than 100 acres for trailer parking.

Eastdil Secured arranged the construction financing. Brokers Dan de la Paz, Eloy Covarrubias and Barbara Perrier of CBRE are handling warehouse leasing.

It’s the latest racetrack across Southern California headed for redevelopment. The Riverside International Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway and Saugus Speedway are all gone.

In September 2022, Los Angeles-based IDS Real Estate Group bought the 63-acre Irwindale Speedway for $22 million. The NASCAR oval and NHRA drag strip at 500 Speedway Drive could make way for an industrial business park.

— Dana Bartholomew