It's Frustrating, But We Care What Happens In Speedway And Indianapolis

Tony Katz:

This story in the IBJ from Mickey Shuey is unbelievable. On Believable, this is the story of the Speedway Hotel. You’ve driven by it as you head to the Speedway and you’re like, what in the world is going on here? Holy cow.

This is the detailed history of it right there at the circle right across from the main gate. Speedway was gonna build a hotel and the plan was for a hotel and their apartments. There’s retail, everything going on. They’ve really worked hard on the downtown in Speedway and they were gonna have this hotel right there on the corner, directly across from the track. This thing was gonna work any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But the funding never really worked out. Going back to the deal that the city created with this group back in 2016, that’s how long this has been going on. And then they started the construction in 2018 and at last got worked on in July of 2019. It’s all about money and how things have sold from one group to another group, and they still can’t get the financing.

Source: Andrey Maximenko / Getty

And this one is suing that one. And the city is kind of holding off suing anybody. They’re just trying to get things done. Maybe they’ll sue later. Maybe they’ll sue now. The backing for it is… This is outrageously detailed, and there’s a series of, I think unique cautionary tales in here about who you do business with. Who you partner with, what kind of deal you create, and of course, what you give to those people that you partner with. Because if they were just saying they were gonna build something and they got the zoning to do it, and then they didn’t build it, the city could feel one way about it, meaning the residents. But if there were gimmes, well, residents might feel a whole different way about it. And I’m not saying that things aren’t done to attract the business. I think when you read this, though, as you’re reading this story, the numbers don’t seem that great. It’s kind of hard to comprehend how it is that they’re not able, these groups, these different developer groups have not been able to get the financing to build this hotel. Outsider looking in. You tell me you’re gonna put in a hotel across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Samuel Deeds 400 At The Brickyard - Practice

Source: Streeter Lecka / Getty

I get it. You got to be able to do things more than the month of May. It’s 120 rooms. With all due respect, it seems to me like that would be a no brainer. 120 Rooms has 92% occupancy the vast majority of the year and 100% occupancy in the month of May is unquestionable. To be in a hotel where you could just walk down a Main Street and have a view every morning of the track that. Even if you were doing work in Indy, you could see staying in Speedway, I cannot do a math that says this doesn’t make sense. So, I stare at these numbers that they’re talking about here, and these numbers don’t seem massive. They don’t seem overwhelming them. Maybe I’m missing something and I’m not adding something together right, whatever the case may be. The numbers seem so normal. I’m reading this story and I’m asking myself. How come Roger Penske hasn’t just come in, bought the whole project and done it his damn self?

Source: FRED TANNEAU / Getty

Like. What in the world is taking so long here? And I would have to assume I have no prior knowledge that the city of Speedway called him and said, Roger come, sorry, captain. I got to assume that happened. Maybe this isn’t the kind of thing he does. Maybe he’s like, “Listen, I bought the Speedway and I’d love to help you with the hotel, but I gotta, I gotta go like get amenities for this thing. So sorry.” I don’t understand why this project continues to fail and I’m not quite sure where people are making this argument regarding these lawsuits, but you gotta read it. It is crazy, crazy deep from Mickey Shuey and it’s it the the articles headlined “A Very Frustrating Process.” I think for all of us, which is weird because people are gonna say to me, “Tony, you don’t live in Speedway.” This is the same conversation about Indianapolis and the clear issues held by Mayor Joe Hogsett. Joe Hogsett has a problem. And after the video that came out over the weekend where he’s speaking to a crowd and, and this is exactly what Joe Hogsett, sounded like

He was swaying. Media sources said he was slurring his words. Was there drinking involved? Were there drugs, illicit or a prescription involved? Is there a mental issue? I don’t know. I can’t diagnose the man. I’m saying something’s up. And some people have noted on social media that the crowd is kind of laughing at him. And if the Indianapolis crowd doesn’t care that their mayor is an absolute mess with a possible issue, why do any of us care? It’s a legitimate question if the people of Indianapolis voted for this guy. Because all they do is vote for Democrats. They don’t actually care about policy. A guy who is clearly not in control of himself, clearly having an issue there, who has allowed sexual harassment to run rampant in his administration and done nothing about it now two investigations into his 10 years as mayor. Why should the rest of us care? And the answer is because we do. Because we want Indy to work cause even if we live in the suburbs, this is Indianapolis. And we want Speedway to be successful because people come and measure Indy based on one month a year. When they come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see the Indianapolis 500 mile race. And why should they look at an abandoned metal structure when there could be a working and thriving hotel in downtown? We care because we do. It is what makes us human. It’s what makes us normal. It’s what makes us decent and good. We look at these things and say, “my gosh, they should be better.” It’s embarrassing that the people of Indianapolis aren’t more disgusted with their mayor. It’s embarrassing that I should be able to just dismiss these people. But I can’t. You want good things. For the place where we live, and we live in all of these places. I do hope they get this hotel squared away. You should read the story over at the BJ. A very frustrating process. It’s really incredible.