Barrett-Jackson to build permanent $40 million facility in Scottsdale

The massive tent at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction is an impressive sight. Occupying 120,000 square feet and stretching a quarter mile, it sufficiently houses the hundreds of collector cars and thousands of visitors that pass through it every January. Even so, the tent needs to be rebuilt annually, and the auction company has been pushing for a permanent facility for more than a decade. Now it looks like their wish will be granted, as the Scottsdale, AZ city council has approved construction of a new building on the WestWorld grounds where the current event is held.

The new facility is estimated to cost around $40 million, but Barrett-Jackson says that it'll save money in the long run on temporary infrastructure costs. The building will also be designed to better accommodate the constant flow of cars driving up to the auction block as, well as have dedicated areas for SPEED's TV crews and food and vendor services. Barrett-Jackson says that it also plans to build a new headquarters and car museum on land adjacent to WestWorld.

Official details on the plans for the new building are in the press release from Barrett-Jackson after the jump.
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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. (March 21, 2012) – It has been talked about for years. Now, thanks to collaboration among Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, a majority of the Scottsdale City Council, city staff, Barrett-Jackson, the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show, Arizona Sun Circuit Quarter Horse Show and others a $40 million expansion of the Tony Nelssen Equestrian Center is a reality.

WestWorld of Scottsdale, site of Scottsdale's signature horse and horsepower events, has seen a variety of improvements recently, but none bigger than Tuesday night's landmark decision.

It will create expanded opportunities for new and existing equestrian shows and, for the "World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions™," a permanent, main auction arena, replacing the 120,000 square foot tent now dominating WestWorld.

"For over a decade we have been talking with the City of Scottsdale about a permanent facility like this in order to make what has always been a desire for a long-term agreement with our hometown," said Barrett-Jackson CEO Craig Jackson. "Thanks to the leadership of this Mayor and Council it finally got done."

Jackson said the decision is terrific news for the event's guests, bidders, consignors, vendors and sponsors.

"We get to replace a challenging, temporary tent with a better, permanent auction arena. We can park fewer cars on the polo field with more on higher ground. And, this will allow us to realize a long-time goal of building our new corporate headquarters and car museum on private land I own next to WestWorld," Jackson said.

Jackson said his relationship with the City of Scottsdale and equestrian users at WestWorld has never been better. While Barrett-Jackson will continue to erect hundreds of thousands of square feet of tents for automobiles, vendors and lifestyle components, WestWorld's new facility will allow Barrett-Jackson to save money on certain, temporary infrastructure costs, amounts that will now be used to help pay for the expanded Equestrian Center, as the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Arizona Sun Circuit Quarter Horse Show are doing.