Australian car dealership giant Eagers Automotive and the owners of Brisbane airport have canceled plans to build the ‘Auto Mall’, a $1 billion complex of new car showrooms and a racetrack designed by a Australian motorsport legend.
A proposed $1 billion automotive precinct next to Brisbane airport, which was designed to include new car showrooms and a race track, has been removed, three years after the venue was first expected to open.
Plans for the ‘Auto Mall at Brisbane Airport’ were announced in 2015 as a joint venture between Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) and Australian car dealership giant Eagers Automotive, which planned to use a 51.3-hectare site facing to the airport’s international terminal for a hub of automotive ‘experiences’.
The one-stop venue was to include new car showrooms, an off-road test track and a 1.5-mile race track, designed in part by five-time V8 Supercars champion and six-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife.
However, in a joint press release issued yesterday, the BAC and Eagers Automotive announced that the Auto Mall would not go ahead, citing economic factors.
“Brisbane Airport Corporation and Eagers Automotive have worked closely together on the development of a multi-use automotive retail and experience precinct at Brisbane Airport,” the companies announced in a joint statement.
“A mutual decision was made not to proceed with the Auto Mall project at Brisbane Airport. This decision has been driven by a number of factors, including the economics of a performance track in a changing world.”
The Auto Mall was originally scheduled to open in early 2020, although in December 2021 the BAC and Eagers Automotive said its opening had been pushed back to 2024 due to delays caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. .
While initial projections claimed the auto complex would cost $500 million to complete to build, The Brisbane Times reports that the project has received more than a billion dollars in investment.
Motorsport Australia, the governing body for motor racing locally, had previously backed the Auto Mall as a boost to grassroots racing, although its cancellation means there will remain just two permanent racing facilities in south-east Queensland for the most part. foreseeable. future.
Queensland Raceway, located near Ipswich, approximately 50 minutes west of the Brisbane CBD, was recently refurbished by businessman and racer Tony Quinn, while Lakeside Raceway in Brisbane’s northern suburbs continues to host motorsport events from base, despite the current tensions between the owners of the circuit and the neighbors. residents about noise levels.
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