ISC sells Staten Island land ending speedway hopes

HAMPTON, Ga. -- International Speedway Corporation is about to officially close the book on the Staten Island speedway project.

According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, ISC subsidiary 380 Development has agreed to sell the 676-acre parcel to a Maryland real estate investment trust for approximately $100 million in cash, net of commissions and other transaction related expenses. The transaction is expected to close in December.

ISC reportedly purchased the property at the end of 2004 for $100 million, with plans to build a .75-mile, 80,000-seat racetrack on the site within five years, at a cost estimated at $600 million. But the company was forced to abandon those plans last year because of widespread local opposition and lack of political support.

"While we are disappointed that we could not complete the speedway development on Staten Island, our enthusiasm for the metropolitan New York market is in no way dampened," ISC president Lesa France Kennedy said at the time. "We continue to view the region as a prime location for a major motorsports facility."

A public hearing on the project last April drew an overflow crowd, overwhelmingly opposed to the project, and resulted in a contentious confrontation between a city councilman and union workers.