APEX drives growth in Maricopa economy

There is no doubt the 250 or so members paying $50,000-plus to gain entry to the exclusive APEX Motor Club on the outskirts of town enjoy coming to Maricopa to put the pedal to the metal.

The racetrack is driving business in Maricopa in a number of other ways, too.

APEX and its members are directly or indirectly spurring major construction projects, enhancing municipal infrastructure, adding restaurants, providing retail and shopping centers and accelerating access to water on the west side of town leading to a new wave of development west of State Route 347.

At the helm is president and general partner Jason Plotke, who spearheaded
development of the facility in 2018. A lifelong car enthusiast, he had been searching for land around the Valley to build a country club centered around racing. After tentative deals with the Gila River Indian Community and Mesa Gateway fell through, he and a group of about 50 investors acquired 280 acres at 22408 N. Ralston Road, about 6 miles west of SR 347 on the north side of State Route 238.

APEX has already developed about 100 acres of the site, including the first of two tracks, a challenging 2.27-mile road course and a just completed storage facility for 45 cars. Early next year, construction will start on 48 garage condos spanning four buildings. Each garage has a mezzanine that can be used as a hospitality area, and the premium locations are situated directly behind pit lane.

The centerpiece of the club’s facilities will be a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse with a full-service restaurant that cantilevers over pit lane. It will have an open hospitality area, lobby, fitness center, locker rooms, swimming pool and restaurant.

“It’s a country club,” said Plotke. “We want people to be able to come here, bring the family and friends, and their kids can play in the pool while they’re out turning laps.”

APEX already has spent about $15 million on construction of the planned $60 million club. Still ahead for members is another two-plus mile track that can be a separate course or linked to the original track to provide drivers a run of more than four miles.

FAST CARS, FAST FOOD

While all this sounds wonderful for the wealthy car enthusiast, the club and members are having a major economic impact on Maricopa.

Tom Barnett, founder of Barnett Management Group, a Phoenix company that owns dozens of Burger King franchises around Arizona, is a perfect example. He first heard about Maricopa from friend and El Dorado Holdings founder Mike Ingram.

Barnett opened his first Maricopa Burger King in 2018 and has been a member of APEX “since before the asphalt was laid,” he said.

Barnett and Ingram had talked on and off about the need for a burger restaurant in town, Barnett said.

“We found the location we’re at now and it’s one of our top restaurants of the 53 we own,” he said. “And because of the success of that restaurant, we’re building a second location in town near Walmart.”

Barnett is a visionary who sees things not as they are, but what they are going to be.

“The track brings me down here fairly often and every time I’m here I see the potential of what this city can and could be,” he said. “If it weren’t for the track, I wouldn’t have had a reason to come here. And now I end up driving around thinking what could go here, what could go there.”

Barnett is currently scouting locations in the city for one of the 32 Slim Chickens restaurants he recently agreed to build in Arizona. He says the chain competes with Chick-Fil-A.

Despite the explosive growth in town, Barnett said he has yet to find a pad to accommodate the eatery, but he is undeterred.

“Right now, there is no nice chicken restaurant in Maricopa, and we want to be that,” he said.

Other growth drivers are more subtle.

Dominic Palmieri, an APEX member and owner of the Shops at Maricopa Village strip center, said he’s all about getting the club’s members to use local businesses.

“I’ve helped connect several local businesses in Maricopa with APEX,” Palmieri said. “Rather than having them bring someone down from the Valley, we try to get them to use local businesses here. And once they do, they find that the products and services are just as good if not better.”

Roots is a prime example. With Palmieri’s help, owner and chef Christopher Spear began catering races and driving academies at the track during the pandemic. Now, the restaurant is a preferred lunch provider for members and food coordinator for VIP events.

Adobe Blinds and Maricopa Renovations have also done work at the track.

Palmieri has set up several APEX members with vacation rental homes in town when they wanted to have an extended stay in town rather than commuting to the Valley. And of course, he and many other club members frequent the city’s auto parts stores.

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

APEX staff member Mark Soriano, a resident of The Lakes at Rancho El Dorado, sees the
value of the track to the city.

“It’s not just people who come here from inside Arizona, it’s international,” he said. “A lot of our members are from Canada. We have a lot of people come through here that would never hear of, much less see, Maricopa if it weren’t for APEX. We also have lots of professional athletes come through here.”

He said UFC world middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who visited the track with his entourage, enjoyed his experience and wants to come back. Another notable sports figure, former Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson, stopped by before heading off to join the Vikings as a free agent.

That kind of organic exposure to the community is what impresses Nathan Steele, the city’s director of economic and community development.

“APEX has proven to be a significant driver for economic development in Maricopa,” Steele said. “I can’t tell you how many times a significant retailer or site selector says that they’ve spent time at APEX, and it makes them want to bring more of their business to Maricopa. These site selectors, remember, bring jobs to the community, and we are in talks with several of them who first got to know about Maricopa because of APEX.”

‘WHOLE NEW BALL GAME’

One of APEX’s biggest contributions is around the bend.

Plotke and Matt Williams, vice president and general partner, have been clamoring to get water service to the track from the start, knowing it was vital to the club’s success.

“We’ve been subsisting for the last two years with the promise of water at some point,” Plotke said in April. “Nothing is going to happen on our end until we have water. Hopefully, that will be taken care of with the new pipeline.”

For now, water is trucked in for major events at the track.

A 12-mile pipeline, announced in May by City Manager Rick Horst, would begin in the southern part of the city, travel west around the Ak-Chin Indian Community and then north to SR 238, creating an entire new corridor of opportunity.

There is also a chance Global Water will be permitted to extend a water main west along SR 238 from Loma Road.

“We’re still working through the process with the Ak-Chin community on the easement,” said Jon Corwin, general manager of Global Water. “If we can get the easement taken care of, we can get the line out 238. It’s just a different process than we normally do.”

The water line would have to cross Ak-Chin tribal land at its Southern Dunes Golf Course.

“One of those two options will eventually be flowing in here,” Plotke said.

Either way, the city and water company are building a station on Ralston Road to provide APEX water before and after pipeline installation. Plotke said the city has told him water should flow on-site in a year or two.

When it does, Mayor Christian Price envisions the track becoming a huge driver for the local economy.

“I think APEX, once the water pipeline is done, will be a whole new ball game,” Price said. “It will be something we’ve never seen before.”

Plotke is well aware of the potential for development and economic growth along SR 238 once water is delivered.

“It’s just tremendous,” he said. “I know the city has put a lot of value in the industrial opportunity that exists along the 238.”

Plotke noted metro Phoenix can no longer offer areas with maximum growth opportunities for large-scale industry. Moreover, Maricopa has an “incredible employee base” in almost every sector, a major draw for industries that may want to locate in the city. The rail line through town offers huge opportunity for companies that manufacture or need to receive goods.

“Land in the Valley is being soaked up,” he said. “It’s getting more expensive as the sprawl continues, so where does the next opportunity lie? I think it’s right here. If you’re not in a service industry, you need your conduits for access to be ideal, and I think Maricopa checks all those boxes.”

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This story appears in the August issue of InMaricopa magazine.