Ground breaks on Greenville Pickens industrial park but racing is still an option

The transformation of Greenville Pickens Speedway into an industrial park officially begun on Thursday but there remains hope for the race track if the right investors present themselves.

The first tenant broke ground on the area surrounding the historic South Carolina short track but that doesn’t mean all is lost when it comes to preserving part of the property for continued motorsports purposes.

Upstate Business Journal

Phil Wilson, principal at Realty Link, the real estate company handling the site has maintained from the start of the redevelopment that there will be room for the race track if someone financially steps up with a viable plan.

The initial site-development plans never placed industrial buildings over the current site of the half-mile paved oval.

“I know the number one question people keep asking — what’s going to happen to the track,” Wilson said.

Chris Bowers, chairman of Pickens County Council, answered that question at groundbreaking ceremony with an overture to the racing community or anyone interested in being part of it.

“We are looking for someone to invest in this track,” Bowers said. “The track is not dead, it’s not over. They can co-exist. We can have an industrial park here and we can have a racetrack here.”

For now, Carolina Handling will be the first tenant to build a 267,000 square foot building on the expanded property and its forklift and material handling equipment enterprise will sit on the hill overlooking the speedway.

The entire property was listed for sale in 2023 by owner Kevin Whitaker and being shopped by land acquisitions and sales broker Stan Tzouvelekas, who is also a Greenville County councilman.