A Nascar racing venue in Homestead allegedly owes the city more than a half-million dollars in rent.
Homestead-Miami Speedway has failed to pay the city $536,180 dating back to 2021, according to an April 25 letter from Homestead City Manager Zerry Ihekwaba obtained by The Real Deal. The demand notice was sent to Guillermo Santa Cruz, the speedway’s president.
The speedway has been making yearly rent payments of $875,000 on time, but failed to account for annual increases based on the national Consumer Price Index, Ihekwaba wrote. The increased payments were supposed to begin four years ago, he added.
“We understand that this technical default under the agreement may have been the result of a good faith administrative oversight,” Ihekwaba wrote. “We respectfully request that the speedway remit payment of the [$530,180] within 20 days of receipt of this letter.”
Spokespersons for the city and the speedway declined to comment. A source familiar with Nascar told TRD that a clerical error in the invoices sent to Homestead-Miami Speedway were incorrect, but that the company is going to pay what is owed.
Homestead-Miami Speedway, consisting of a 1.5-mile racetrack and a 46,000-seat stand at One Ralph Sanchez Speedway Boulevard, is owned by International Speedway Corp., a Nascar subsidiary based in Daytona Beach. The speedway is part of Nascar’s Cup Series circuit and will be holding championship title races next year, according to published reports.
Homestead-Miami Speedway has leased 650 acres, including the race track, from the city since 1993, when the facility broke ground. The race track was developed as an economic driver for Homestead after the city was devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
In 2021, Homestead-Miami Speedway signed a tentative agreement to sublease 5 acres to a group led by Miami real estate investor Jose Mallea, for the development of a Bitcoin mining operation that would have been powered by Homestead’s city-owned utility company. However, the project fizzled out.
