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Developers of the Del Pointe harness racing track proposed for a site on Route 113 north of Millsboro said the facility would not be a cookie-cutter design for Anyplace, USA. It will be Sussex County-unique.
“We’ve thought a lot about what we want this place to be,” said developer Preston Schell, discussing the racetrack and 370-acre parcel east of Route 113 and north of Millsboro’s town limit.
He said the track and its support facilities would use about 110 acres of the parcel.
Schell and longtime business partner Gene Lankford have received the Delaware Harness Racing Commission’s conditional approval, which allows Del Pointe to move ahead with its planning.
“It’s similar to preliminary site-plan approval at the county level,” he said.
Schell said Del Pointe is working on the next step needed to advance the project: an economic impact and financial feasibility study.
He said a primary purpose for the studies is to determine whether Del Pointe would be profitable without adding slot machines to the racetrack.
“The answer is we don’t know. We presume that slots might be necessary to make the track financially feasible, however, until we’re able to get a professional marketing study, we’re not going to pursue slots,” Schell said.
Delaware’s existing harness race tracks – Dover Downs Hotel & Casino and Harrington Raceway & Casino – operate extensive video lottery gaming, slots, facilities.
He said the track’s first racing season could come in 2011, but the date depends on several variables – chiefly, the speed of the permitting process.
Schell said Del Pointe is also developing conceptual plans for specific types of accommodations, retail shops and amusements on land adjacent to the racetrack.
“We’re thinking about doing what we call a cottage or cabin-style hotel. We’re trying to incorporate some of the things that we like about Sussex County at the facility so that it feels like Sussex County and not like some other track in some other area,” he said.
Schell said the commission would consider final approval of the track after review of completed financial studies and facility plans.
Schell said he and Lankford worked about eight months to develop concepts for Del Pointe.
He said the racetrack’s license application is contained in a more than 3-inch thick binder and includes detailed descriptions of the track, elevation drawings and site plans.
Schell said the application also includes personal financial information, several years of income tax filings, and questions about criminal history.
“If you have a criminal history, you’re unlikely to have a license issued,” he said.
Del Pointe would be the only one-mile harness racetrack in the region – a distinction that would put the facility in a league of its own, Schell said.
“This is something people in harness racing greatly desire. The other two tracks (in Delaware) are five-eighths and a half-mile. It’s harder for younger horses to run on those types of tracks,” he said.
Harness racing horsemen say short-distance tracks have excessively tight turns on which younger horses cannot safely run.
Del Pointe would use racing days that are available but unused in the state’s annual harness racing schedule. The unused days are during summer months.
During days when races are not held at Del Pointe, the facility would accommodate concerts, outdoor festivals, corporate events and other activities.
Schell said before filing the racetrack license application, Del Pointe representatives met with Millsboro’s mayor, vice mayor, and city manager to discuss possible annexation.
He said town officials were receptive to the presentation outlining Del Pointe’s plans.
“They were relieved to find out that it wasn’t another residential subdivision,” he said. Schell said town officials made clear their disinterest in annexing land for residential development.
He said Millsboro’s officials didn’t commit to anything. “I think they’d like to see details and see how their constituents respond to the concept,” Schell said.
He said if Millsboro opts not to annex the parcel, the project would be developed in unincorporated Sussex County.
He said the estimated 500 full- and part-time jobs Del Pointe would create is a number that applies only to the racetrack and its operation.
Schell said final decisions have not yet been made about land not used by the track.
“We’re confident that whatever we do with it, because it’s a commercial use, would produce jobs,” he said.
Schell said central and western Sussex County is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, especially in housing, more so than other areas in the county.
“That part of the county could use a little economic boost that would result from a harness racing track and other uses that we’re proposing at the site,” he said.
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