Denver International Airport to Get Members-Only RacetrackDenver International Airport to Get Members-Only Racetrack A vacant lot near Denver International Airport is being transformed into a private racetrack exclusively for wealthy members. The proposed Ascent Drive Resort will feature a 3.75-mile race track, a 160-acre off-road park, a 0.8-mile go-kart track, 750 private garages, and a clubhouse, all on 580 acres of undeveloped land. Exclusive and Expensive Membership to Ascent Drive will come with a hefty price tag, ranging from $65,000 for Gold membership to $225,000 for Incorporation membership. The annual dues also vary, with Platinum membership costing $12,000 per year and Gold membership costing $7,500. Concerns from Neighbors Residents living near the proposed racecourse have expressed concerns about increased noise, speeding, and the loss of farmland. They have also raised safety issues, as the racecourse will be located in a rural area. Developer’s Response In response to concerns, Ascent Drive purchased additional land and relocated noise-generating features further away from neighboring homes. The company also says it is working with noise consultants and law enforcement to address safety and noise issues. Timeline Ascent Drive held a “reveal party” for the project in April 2022, and aerial photos showed the track carved into the land. The company hopes to begin paving in 2024. Location The Ascent Drive Resort will be located at 9600 N. Imboden Road in Adams County, approximately one mile east of Denver International Airport.
Denver International Airport workers mow the grass on the vacant lot near the runways. (Courtesy of Denver International Airport)
A mile east of Denver International Airport, surrounded by undeveloped farmland, a messy-looking loop has been carved into the ground.
It’s a harbinger of the venue’s future: a members-only racetrack, open only to those who can afford to pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“This is not the typical racetrack that people might imagine,” Adams County spokeswoman Nikki Kimbleton told BusinessDen in an email. “It is a private facility for members with big bucks to store their vehicles and take them to the track.”
The proposed racecourse is Ascent Drive Resort, which according to her website is proposed to include a 3.75-mile race track, a 160-acre off-road park, a 0.8-mile go-kart track, 750 private garages for members’ vehicles, a clubhouse and an event venue — all on 580 acres at 9600 N. Imboden Road in Adams County.
The company went public with the project in May 2021 and also purchased several plots of land in the area that year.
Isaac Bouchard, founder and chief revenue officer for Ascent Drive, declined to speak to BusinessDen about the project. Abigail Wenk, the company’s director of communications, did not respond to emails or phone calls.
Ascent Drive has “received rights from the planning department to operate,” county spokesman Kimbleton wrote. “They already leveled the terrain before they started building the track and the structures.”
The land is owned by three limited liability companies — Warthog LLC, Tatonka Watkins LLC and Sidetrack LLC — that were listed on permit applications filed with Adams County. Wenk is the registered agent for the entities. The LLCs are registered at the same address in downtown Denver as Bison Oil & Gas, where Wenk is vice president of corporate administration.
Ascent Drive held a “reveal party” for the project in April 2022, according to his Instagram profile. In two messages last summerAerial photos showed the track carved into the land, and the company told a commentator it hopes to begin paving in 2024. Ascent Drive has not posted on Instagram since October.
The resort’s website stated that there were three types of memberships: Gold, with an initiation fee of $65,000 and an annual dues of $7,500; Platinum, with an initiation fee of $100,000 and an annual dues of $12,000; and Incorporation, with an initiation fee of $225,000 and no annual dues.
Residents living near the proposed racecourse expressed concerns about crime and safety, increased noise levels and noise levels associated with the racecourse. according to Adams County data.
“This is my home, not a place to play,” Stacey Easterday, who lives about two miles south of the proposed track, wrote in a letter. “I enjoy our quiet atmosphere and do not want to hear the constant noise that comes with the race cars or the additional, future, expansion plans and traffic it will bring into our neighborhoods.”
Lisa and Roger Trublet de Nermont, who are farmers and also live two miles south of the development, wrote that they were concerned that the racecourse would lead to speeding on nearby roads and that the development would result in the loss of land needed for agriculture.
“We need to protect our lands, not pour concrete over fertile farmland that has been cleared for growing crops,” they wrote. “We all need to consider the impact of losing farmland to development. … We have no problem with someone in our agricultural area exercising their right to use their farmland in an agricultural way, but we do object to farmland being destroyed.”
Wenk wrote a letter in April 2022 in response to Easterday, saying that Ascent Drive had purchased additional land and restructured the development to move all “features that could generate noise” an additional 1,000 feet further away from nearby homes. Wenk also wrote that the company was working with noise consultants and law enforcement to address noise and safety concerns.
“We are confident that these changes will help us be good neighbors,” Wenk wrote.
