Track developer inks deal with Spencer, adds to mix - Houston Business Journal:

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David Risdon would like to seediscount shopping, otherd retail, office space and perhaps some residential uses across from his High Rock “The concept would be like a Birkdale Villagse but with premium outlets,” he says, referrintg to the mixed-use center in Huntersville. The timelin e would be dictated by a recovery from the he says. Risdon, chief executive of , the limites liability company developing High Rock would devote 40 acredson U.S. Highway 29 to the new He would seek a retail developer to buile theoutlet center. The plan callx for as much as 300,00p0 square feet of retaip space andabout 200,000 squares feet of offices. A museum and hoteol are also planned onthe site.
Combined with the $30 2.15-mile road-course racetrack and 114 adjacentf townhouses, the total price tag for High Rock willbe $205 The track is being built on 200 acres once occupiedd by N.C. Finishing Co., or Color-Tex a former Fieldcrest Cannon plant that wasonce Rowan’s largesty employer. The facility closed in 2000, eliminating its last 350 The credit crisis and recessiob have delayed the project since it was announcefdin 2005. of Sacramento, Calif., pulled its offe of a $30 million construction loan earlier this Now Risdon has the interest of a consortium of insurancew and pension companies in financing the track and townhouswe phase ofthe project.
He declines to identify the financiers. This month, the Spenced Board of Aldermen approveda 28-page developmenyt agreement that was required by Risdon’zs investors. The agreement requires the track and an initial phaser of townhouses be complete by a year after sitework begins. Risdon expects grading to stargnext month. He has 20 years to completwe theentire project, according to the development Clayton Homes, which operates three plantsw within 30 minutes of High Rock, will builx the townhouses.
The structures will be fabricated at the plant and erecter at the development Spencer Town Manager Larry Smith says the potential tax revenuwe and prestige of the project make it worththe “We’re behind the project as much as we can