The story for Thermal Motorsports Track & Club, a proposed luxury racing club on a fallow plot of land, is in some ways replicating the humble start of the once-struggling Parnelli Jones jalopy driver.

It's been said that fate brought Jones and California Ford dealer Vel Miletich together in Torrance. What came of their partnership in the 1950s is United States Auto Club racing history.
Flash forward 60 years, and real estate developer Blake Miraglia says he stumbled onto the investment of a lifetime through happenstance. He read about the project in a newspaper and called on key promoter Paul Clayton to sell the project his homegrown Canary Island Date Palms.

At the time, the track — originally eyed for Formula One racing — was running out of gas.
Miraglia envisioned a quieter, gentler side.

He threw his chips in the ring and, working with Clayton, snagged a deal to move the proposed 4.5-mile track onto a 330-acre portion of the privately-held Kohl Ranch near the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport.

The business model changed, too.

“We agreed to move forward with a country-club model.”

On Wednesday, Thermal Motorsports Track & Club moves toward the final laps.

The Riverside County Planning Commission staff recommends land use updates to make the venture possible.

The Board of Supervisors may take up the matter as early as next month.

“We're at the endgame for entitlement,'' said Rich Lichtenstein, a consultant to the Kohl Family Trust on the 1,000-acre ranch project that, beyond the track, includes home and commercial development.

“This project is a great mix of uses,'' he said. “It fits in well, given its proximity to the airport and, at the same time, provides the same kind of tourist amenities that suits the desert.”

If the project is approved, “The intent is to get the track up and running — certainly by the end of the year,'' Lichtenstein said. “We're working diligently with the county to do just that.”

Readiness begins

Thermal Motorsports Track & Club has already caught the eye of professional race-car drivers the likes of Darren Law, Tom Gloy and Parnelli Jones, and well-heeled Founding Club investors, Miraglia said.

“We're working with the Indianapolis 500 Racing League and are working with its CEO to set up a corporate site to entertain their sponsors in the winter, and have racing teams come out to do their testing.”

The red carpet was rolled out for CEO Randy Bernard last week, Miraglia said.

And a deal was inked with JetSuite, which operates the Embraer Phenom 100, to offer enhanced pricing and service opportunities to club members seeking private flights.
Working out of a sales office that's been set up at La Quinta Resort & Club, Miraglia said deposits have been collected on 61 of the 254 lots that are being sold at prices that start at $200,000 off the track and at $350,000 along it, Miraglia said.

“We're requiring $25,000 down now,'' and each depositor will be required to close escrow within 30 days of entitlement.

A firm, Penta, is offering to build swank garages on each of the lots.

The private entertainment garage, designed to store up to eight cars on a carousel or double that, if stacked, includes an upper deck to relax and overlook the entire track. Construction prices start at $250,000.

Members don't need to buy lots, though.

Memberships are being sold at prices that start at $50,000, and work much like a golf membership at a country club.

For an additional $800 a month, the members get all the benefits of coming out to drive fast on a track that can be broken down into three separate venues and has 19 possible configurations.

For the price, members gain access to the Kart track and the main track. They can store one vehicle in a storage garage that will spring up on the grounds. The membership also includes access to PGA West, as well as its six golf courses, tennis courts, swimming, and discounts at La Quinta Resort & Club.

“There are a lot of projects that we all work on these days that are interesting on paper, and take a lot to get approved,'' Lichtenstein said.

“A lot that are approved for building are challenged by uncertain economic times. This is not one of them. They’re ready to go.”

Miraglia said more than $14-million has been spent on infrastructure for the track project, entitlement work and a massive marketing campaign—some of which involves entertainment for classic car and race-car aficionados from Pebble Beach and La Jolla to Fontana.

To drum up interest, a 1957 Porsche Speedster was parked in the PGA West clubhouse for the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and fancy cars rest outside the sales office at LaQuinta Resort.

The sales effort has generated room sales, as well, citing visits by Chubb Insurance and collectors of prized Austin Martins, Miraglia said.

Project aids east valley

Longtime Inland Empire economist John Husing, who was retained early on to study the economic impact of the track, has said the facility is important because it would provide the valley another destination.

“That drives in more people to spend money in hotels, restaurants, and even possibly live in the area,” said Husing, who projected a nearly $71 million economic impact.

“It would add to the diversity of the Coachella Valley,” he said, and the clientele of a track like this would not be impacted much by the price of fuel. “This is a rich man’s game,” Husing said.
Lee Morcus, of Kaiser Restaurant Group, said the project can help the east valley.

“It diversifies the economy,” he said. “It gives us high-profile, international exposure, generates jobs for construction, and I believe will lead to the development of industry clusters in and around the track.”

Morcus, who chairs the Hospitality Industry and Business Council of the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities CVA and has had a lead role in the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, said the track could spur housing, commercial and industrial development in the east valley.

“It also holds promise to create economic development around the airport,” he said, and adds to the vitality of Indio and La Quinta area hotels.

Promotional banners and signage is installed outside a showroom and sales office for the Thermal Motorsports Track & Club, seen Wednesday in La Quinta. The invitation-only race facility, which project officials hope to open in Thermal this fall, has a sales office at La Quinta Resort & Club. / Crystal Chatham, The Desert Sun

By the numbers

A study by longtime inland area economist John Husing suggested a potential $70.7 million economic impact from the members-only club, including:

• 477 jobs.
• $16.9 million in direct investment in the economy.
• $53.8 million in economic activity.
• $16.9 million in household earnings.
• $29.1 million to track operators of various schools and operation of the racing club.

The proposed racing project

The Riverside County Planning Commission will hear a petition to amend the general plan for the Kohl Ranch property, which includes the parcel map and plot plan for Thermal Motorsports Track & Club. The meeting is at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in La Quinta City Hall's council chambers, 78-495 Calle Tampico.

Development of the 4.5-mile track, and a noise barrier that will surround it, includes:

• Subdividing the land into 254 founders lots and 11
  track facility lots.
• Building an administration building.
• Nine team garages and three members' storage garages.
• Control tower up to 70 feet in height.
• Corporate event tent and 22,496-square-foot track-side garage and luxury suite up to 35 feet in height.
• Tuning shop.
• Private garages for development by private members on the individual track-side and off-track lots.
• Kart track.

Visit the Website at:
www.Thermal122.com