McLaren building new IndyCar facility in Whitestown
WHITESTOWN, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — United Kingdom-based McLaren Racing on Thursday announced plans to invest more than $25 million to build a new IndyCar facility in Whitestown.
The company says the project will create up to 175 jobs by the end of 2025.
The 97,000-square-foot facility will include team office space, technical areas, workshop space, logistics and transport areas, and a space for Arrow McLaren SP – the company’s IndyCar operation – to practice pit stops.
The company says the facility will allow Arrow McLaren to run three full-time entries in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series with plans to expand in the future.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown made the announcement at the Global Economic Summit in downtown Indianapolis.
“It really felt like this was the logical time to announce it, in conjunction with this great economic convention,” Brown told our partners at the Indianapolis Business Journal.
The company says the facility will be built on Indianapolis Road just west of Interstate 65 in Whitestown. The building will replace McLaren’s current facility on the north side of Indianapolis, which was built in 1985.
Brown says the new building will be constructed with a focus on sustainability.
“I think it’s the right thing to do—it’s what the employees want,” he said. “It’s also what our corporate partners want and governments want, so I think it’s the right direction to go [with] starting something today. I think it’d be crazy not to have sustainability be a thread through [our] activity.”
Construction on the new facility is set to begin in the fall with plans to open in early 2024.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. and the town of Whitestown are working to finalize a performance-based incentive package for the project.
“This new facility will be a catalyst for motorsport and business growth for McLaren Racing in North America. We are working hand-in-hand with Whitestown officials throughout the entire process, making sure we create an environment for hard work and excellence,” Arrow McLaren SP President Taylor Kiel said in written remarks. “We look forward to having a new, class-leading home for our team with access to the state-of-the-art resources they need to compete for wins and championships. Investment like this just shows the excitement and growth around IndyCar locally and nationally.”
The announcement comes just days before Arrow McLaren SP drivers Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Juan Pablo Montoya compete in the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
The project is the third economic development effort announced in as many days, following Eli Lilly and Co.’s (NYSE: LLY) $2.1 billion investment in Boone County announced Wednesday and plans from global auto giant Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) to invest $2.5 billion in a new electric vehicle battery plant in Kokomo.