Container Ships Are Exciting, But They Sure Don’t Go Vroom Like A NASCAR Track

Staten Island goes from maybe getting an exciting new NASCAR track to a boring old shipping port:

International Speedway Corp. has selected a buyer for its former NASCAR site in Bloomfield, where plans for an 82,500-seat race track hit a dead-end late last year.

ISC is expected in the next few weeks to name the purchaser — one of three top bidders for the 676-acre property located next to the Goethals Bridge.

Potential buyers included two large real estate development companies and an international shipping firm, with bids for the barren, industrial waterfront property ranging from $90 and $110 million, one source said.

The likely pick is a development firm that will use the land for warehousing and water-related uses in line with the site’s manufacturing zoning.

. . .

In recent months, the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has marketed the property in privately circulated materials as an ideal spot for warehousing and distribution, calling it the “Staten Island Logistics Center, Port of New York” and “largest contiguous waterfront and port related distribution site in the New York Metropolitan area.”

“All three [bidders] are focused on the port aspect of the property,” one source said recently.

. . .

Almost 100 million tons of cargo flowed into New York and New Jersey shipping terminals in 2004, a 27 percent spike from 2000. The industry here employs thousands and generates close to $1 billion to the local economy, experts have said.

And most agree that building homes would be nearly impossible on the former NASCAR site, where ISC is still cleaning up toxic soil from the oil tank farm that was once there.