Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 21 An aerial photograph and rendering of the sports complex under construction along Day Hill Road in Windsor. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Startup indoor cycling league eyes Windsor arena; price tag could reach $80M By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com M ark Greenberg's vision to develop a premium sports and entertainment complex in Windsor could get a major boost from a new venture hoping to popularize team cycling in the United States. World Cycling Limited is a startup led by sports, entertainment, media and technology executives who are trying to launch a Team- Trak Cycling League. They want to establish their headquarters and build an arena in Windsor, on land owned by Greenberg. David Chauner — who competed as a member of the U.S. Olympic cycling team in 1968 and 1972 — is working with Guilford financier Rick Mayer and others to launch the league. The sport involves teams of four men and four women racing at high speeds on steep-banked oval tracks in arenas called velodromes. Currently, there are just over two dozen velodromes in the United States, only a few of which are enclosed. Chauner and Mayer aim to line up public and private financing for a 3,000-seat, 100,000-square-foot velo- drome in Windsor, with an attached 40,000-square-foot field house. The plan is to incorporate the facility into a sports and entertain- ment development Greenberg is assembling on 150 acres he owns off The Dunc Gray Velodrome located in Australia. A startup race cycling league wants to build a velodrome in Windsor. PHOTO | ADAM.J.W.C./WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Day Hill Road in Windsor. The area is already home to Fastpitch Nation's 11 softball fields. An 82-foot-tall sports dome with an indoor artificial soccer turf field is expected to debut on-site in mid-November. The cycling facility would serve as league offices and a racing site. The field house would be available for rent for basketball, volleyball and other sports. The velodrome could double as a concert and entertainment venue. Chauner estimates a price tag of between $25 million to $80 million, depending on the level of finishes and materials. The goal is to have the facility built by 2026. World Cycling Limited hopes to get its league off the ground next year, with the first exhibitions scheduled for September 2024 in Las Vegas. Chauner and Mayer said they have begun to line up investors in the league, including Greenberg. "I just think there's an incredible amount of momentum in that area, and the investors are looking for new opportunities," Mayer said. "I don't think we are going to have much of a big hurdle raising the funds needed to launch this." David Chauner Rick Mayer "We are going to send people over to the brewery," DiCarlo said. "Mark's not just putting together individual pieces. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Greenberg said the momentum of his Windsor development is owed in large part to the proof-of-concept offered by the four-year-old Fastpitch Nation facility. Fastpitch Nation owner David Rocha said the fall schedule for his fields was booked within 15 days of registration opening Aug. 1. There are 100 teams on the waitlist, he said. Of the 336 teams signed up to participate in eight tournaments at the Fastpitch Nation softball fields, 214 are staying in local hotels, Rocha said. More to come Two hotels are also planned for the Day Hill Road site. Groton businessman Jimmy Patel is expected to begin building a 110-room Home 2 Suites hotel later this year on a 3.5-acre parcel he purchased from Greenberg. A 95-room Microtel has received local land use approvals for Green- berg's development zone, but the family behind the venture withdrew for personal reasons, Greenberg said. Even so, Greenberg said he plans to step in to build the hotel, which will cost about $7 million and occupy land worth another $2 million. Greenberg said he expects to break ground in early 2024, with an estimated 18-month construction period. "It's just another piece of this tremendous partnership," Green- berg said. "Two hotels are neces- sary. The zoning is all done. It's ready to build and, less important, it's going to be very profitable because the audience is built in. Between David Rocha and Fastpitch Nation's 12,000 room nights a year, and Vinnie's dome, there will be a certain number of room nights a year."

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