TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2002

  ’Extreme’ arena unveiled for city

By ANDREW D. SMITH

Staff Writer

$25.5M complex touted as U.S. venue

TRENTON – After working in secret for more than six months, developers have unveiled plans for a $25.5 million complex for extreme sports – a revolutionary concept that could benefit the city’s economy and bring visitors from across the nation.

The 230,000-square-foot facility would be the first of its kind in the nation and one of the biggest private projects in recent city history.

Besides two motorcycle racetracks, the three-story facility would feature a 100-foot-tall wind tunnel for indoor skydiving and areas for BMX racing as well as in-line skating. Other amenities would include a pro shop, restaurant, brew pub, nightclub, food court and state of-the-art arcade.

XArena Motor Sports hopes to break ground this September at an 11-acre site between Route 1 and Brunswick Avenue near Olden Avenue. Doors could open this spring.

”We didn’t want to say anything before we had the money lined up. But now we have the majority of the funding, and this thing is a go,” said Ryan Marshall, XArena’s director g marketing.

The proposal has yet to win approval from Trenton’s city council or its planning board. But the council will begin reviewing the matter today.

At the same time, XArena and the city will continue working toward a deal to transfer the land and settle matters like financial incentives and local employment requirements.

Clayton Keeler, the company has been working with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to secure the necessary funds. So far, Keeler says. Sovereign Bank has signed onto the project. Keeler expects another bank or two to join in over the next couple weeks and provide XArena with everything it needs – less some money that the EDA ”verbally committed” to contribute. EDA officials would not confirm the existence of any verbal agreements. According to EDA spokesman Glenn Phillips, XArena has yet to submit a formal application for the up to $2 million it could get through the Local Development Financing Fund. ”We expect to have all the paperwork completed and filed in the next couple weeks,” said Keeler. A Pennington resident and motocross biker who founded Witherspoon Inc.. a construction management company. ”At the same time,” he continued. ”We will keep working with Trenton so that we can achieve the goal of starting work in September. We realize it is an ambitious pace, but things are really falling into place. I am about 99 percent sure that everything is going to go on or close to schedule.”

Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer says he won’t be quite so optimistic until he sees proof that XArena has the money to go forward, but he still believes the project has a ”70 percent chance of completion.

”The arena is going to pay nearly $1 million a year in property taxes, which is a big deal for us. And it’s going to attract people into the city who will then patronize other businesses here. All and all, this arena will provide a considerable economic boost.” XArena officials expect motorcycling to be the primary activity at the new arena. There will be two courses – one for experts, the other for less experienced riders – available for practice runs. There also will be regular races for aspiring bikers and motocross fans alike.

Exact figures for seating capacity as well as the price for riding at the arena were unavailable. Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 10 p.m, weekdays and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends, except race days. According to several experts, sales of motocross bikes and related gear has been growing at double-digit rates in the past 11 years. This year, those figures are expected to rise another 17 percent. But aspiring riders from the Northeast and Midwest face a major problem: Tracks are few and far between, and indoor racks are nonexistent.

XArena officials hope the Trenton facility will tap into the enormous demand for a quality-training center – particularly during the winter, and observers say their plan may prove a big success. ”I don’t want to sound like a commercial. But to be perfectly honest with you, this thing could really be revolutionary,” said Davey Coombs, publisher of Racer X Illustrated. ”Thousands of people from the northern part of the country go down to Florida to ride each winter. A place in Trenton would save them an enormous amount of time, and I think it will prove an enormous draw.” Coombs, who also provides color commentary for ESPY during its motorcycle racing coverage, says he will be among the first people to visit the new facility. ”Something like this will certainly be worth a drive from where I live in West Virginia,” he said. ”If this succeeds, it could start a major trend across the country.”

XArena hired one of the nation’s largest architectural firms, the Hillier Group. to design the project. But Hillier officials would not comment about the building yesterday because they didn’t have permission from XArena. Renderings of the building show a futuristic structure with video monitors on the outside. The wind tunnel appears to be made largely of glass.

Although Trenton will provide the property to XArena, the city has yet to acquire the site. Which is still owned by Public Service Electric & Gas, which once operated a manufactured gas plant there.

Over the past three years, the utility has been working on a $14 million cleanup project at the site. Work was scheduled to end this month. 

Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection could not be reached for an update.

City officials are negotiation with PSE&G to buy the property.

Originally, they had planned to use a $4.7 million grant from the federal government to develop a light industrial use there.  But now they are asking permission to use the money to develop another site.

“It could be a very big added bonus,” Gonzalez said. “If we get permission to use that money elsewhere, we will end up redeveloping 20 or more acres rather than just the 11.