Escapade Silverstone

Silverstone to offer luxury accommodation overlooking circuit for £1.65m

2020 F1 season

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Silverstone is to offer luxury accommodate blocks with views overlooking the circuit from 2022.

The 60 residences by will be situated on the approach to Maggotts corner at the home of the British Grand Prix. Two, three and four-bedroom options will be made available at prices ranging from £650,000 to £1.65 million.

They are being offered by Escapade Living, which describes itself as a “lifestyle-led property developer”. Planning permission was granted last year and building work will begin in October.

The properties “will give guests the chance to live out their racing ambitions and offer unparalleled sightlines of the circuit”, according to Escapade Living. “It will seek to redefine access to motorsport,” it adds.

Buyers will be given access to all major race weekends at Silverstone and use of the Escapade Living clubhouse. The residences will be offered to other Silverstone visitors when not in use by their owners.

“Escapade Silverstone will enable motorsport lovers to buy residences right on the edge of the circuit” said the track’s managing director Stuart Pringle. “For us, its immersive, bespoke, guest-led offering hails the dawn of something special.”

The latest development at the circuit follows the 2018 announcement of plans for a new hotel complex opposite the pit and paddock.

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Escapade Silverstone
Rendering of how the Escapade Silverstone development overlooking Maggotts corner could look

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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49 comments on “Silverstone to offer luxury accommodation overlooking circuit for £1.65m”

  1. So this will undoubtedly take away more of the general admission “cheap” (well £200 still) spots so the fans suffer. And I thought taking away half the pit straight grandstand for a hotel was stupid.

  2. Careful Silverstone. Some people are so awful they’ll get a noise restriction order on the circuit. Happened in Castle Combe where people bought houses locally then made noise complaints. Its why castle combe cant even run anything above fórmula Ford

    1. @broke84

      Same thing here in Montreal. About 1.5 hrs north of Montreal, Lawrence Stroll has his race track at Mont-Tremblant. Residents who bought near the race track made noise complaints.

    2. @broke84 Exactly – I remember Castle Combe before the noise restrictions, the quality of the series there now is a shadow of what it was then. I can hear Castle Combe clearly from home, but it doesn’t bother me – it was there before me anyway! I believe the same thing happened to Brands Hatch a few years ago – a new housing estate was built nearby, the people who bought houses there then moaned about a circuit that had been there since before most of them were even born, and restrictions were put in place.

      1. @tflb exactly. I grew up in Bath and did some marshalling there a couple of times, a proper old school circuit that had the potential to be Britains signature circuit, fast and flowing. Too much redtape though because of the village.

    3. I should add to my comment and say how ridiculous this. England is not a big country and houses are constantly being built for the wealthy….. The housing market in the UK must be improved, this is not it.

      1. Not sure what one has to do with the other. They’re not ever going to be building affordable housing overlooking a race track and construction projects like this give jobs to hundreds of people.

        Building these isn’t getting in the way of an affordable housing project elsewhere.

    4. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      28th July 2020, 1:55

      People are ridiculous for that sort of thing. I live in a similar (nowhere near as luxurious as these look) development next to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. It was built years after the stadium yet people move here and complain about noise, parking and congestion on match days. Absolute madness.

  3. Robert McKay
    27th July 2020, 12:00

    I wonder if anyone will move in and then complain about the noise.

    1. AFAIR the same thing was the beginning of the end for Riverside Raceway, the best SoCal racetrack experience ever.
      The circuit was surrounded with tract housing, and sure enough the residents complained about noise.

  4. So that’s nice, a luxury housing development on the site of my favourite general admission viewing area. I’m unclear as to whether access to the ‘great unwashed’ will remain or flags would ruin the view for the super-rich. Money talks, Silverstone needs it I suppose.

    1. Matthew Taylor
      27th July 2020, 12:57

      The brochure makes it look like these properties go right up to the fences. No more Friday mornings walking from Luffield to Becketts for hoi polloi then – well, not clockwise anyway. If they’re not keeping a trackside path for regular ticketholders, that is pretty grotesque.

  5. <> I, at first, thought that that was for co$t for the race weekend …. phwew … I feel better, now. And they WILL complain …

    1. Most of these places (if it goes ahead) will be purchased for investment purposes and rented out for competition weekends – probably remaining vacant for the rest of the year.
      The rental price on F1 GP weekend probably won’t be much more attractive than the number in the heading anyway. Certainly not for normal people.

      1. @synonymous

        Agree with every word you’ve written. Wimbledon residents rent out their houses/flats during the tennis championships, same thing will happen with these properties at Silverstone…

  6. And they will complain about the noise and ask for the circuit to be closed.

    1. That is EXACTLy what will happen……..and then the circuit can be sold for development as a new town. $$$$$$$$
      Meanwhile a by now superfast Formula E will be the dominant series.

      1. Nope not ever !

  7. This will kill the circuit in future years through noise complaints. You only need to look at most circuits to see this doesn’t work.

  8. Wish they had left the circuit as it was. Never liked the new layout and all the other awful changes they’ve made.

    1. The last time I was at Silverstone – around 1990 – I helped push a Spitfire out of the mud and back onto the runway.

      My dad raced there in the 50s, on 4 wheels, and I did a few meetings on 2 wheels in the early 80s (Damon Hill was a competitor in one of my time trials, on a Laverda if I recall…). I think little changed between my dad’s day and mine. Things have to move on.

      1. That’s a great story. I understand you have to update facilities etc such as the pit complex (which they ruined as you cannot see pit boxes for teams further down / see the pit exit) but there was nothing wrong with the old circuit layout. I enjoyed Bridge into Priory / Brooklands.

  9. Oh dear God………

  10. Wow, Silverstone is one of the greatest tracks but also one of the most unwelcoming places to go.
    With this now taking one of the best spots away it really will feel like spectators are unwelcome visitors in someone else’s garden.

    1. But we are just peasants, the unwashed masses have never been really welcome in F1 since the mid 80s

      1. All events at Silverstone feel like that to me. If I go to silverstone for anything other than F1, there are gates and fences locked up everywhere and you end up walking miles around stuff.
        It really does feel like you are not wanted and the circuit is resentful of letting spectators in for anything other than F1. Completely contrasted with the MSV circuits.
        I don’t think I’ve ever been to Silverstone and not left without a bitter taste in my mouth about something.
        It’s a shame, it’s such a nice track.

        1. That’s why I never go to these events. It’s sad, but given that TV/internet coverage tends to be better than what you see in person, the main reason for going is the experience of it and if that doesn’t exist might as well stay at home

        2. Jack (@jackisthestig)
          28th July 2020, 1:41

          I know what you mean. I enjoy going to the WEC and Silverstone Classic but the MSV circuits are really good. A BTCC weekend ticket is less than £40 and Sunday only is less than £30. I think that’s fantastic value given the access you get and the quality of support races etc… You pay more for parking at the Grand Prix!

  11. Wrong call, wrong price.
    People who can afford to buy these don’t take anything seriously that’s less than £10m.

  12. Ah, gentrification. Lovely… just what all the real fans wanted… There’ll probably be people moving there who will make noise complaints though, people are daft sometimes! I hope there’ll be some kind of covenant in place forbidding any residents from making a formal noise complaint.

  13. Neil (@neilosjames)
    27th July 2020, 15:54

    Oh joy. A place to park a camera to get thrilling views of expensively dressed people leaning on a balcony rail holding a glass of champagne.

  14. Taken from another article on the subject: “Residences are provided on a 125-year lease and owners will be able to use them as they wish up to a certain number of nights a year.” so you don’t actually own it and you don’t get to stay there whenever you like. Oh, and it doesn’t even come with a garage: “Escapade Silverstone will also separately provide climate-controlled car storage, allowing owners to securely store vehicles when not in use”

    I’ll take my £millions elsewhere, thanks.

    1. Maybe Monaco? Sun, food, car parking, views, fast women.

  15. It gets better…
    ” Unlike a regular home, leaseholders will be permitted 21 tokens with which they can purchase nights at the property, with different events costing a different number of tokens.

    A stay during the Formula 1 weekend must consist of a minimum of three nights, and will cost five tokens per night, while a visit during the MotoGP will cost two tokens per night.

    For the remainder of the year, the property will be rented out with 35 per cent of the revenue going to the leaseholder. ”

    So its rather more a timeshare than actually owning the thing.

  16. Gavin Campbell
    27th July 2020, 17:20

    Firstly I think the “ownership” of these seem slightly opaque as they will be “offered to other silverstone guests” when not in use. So it sounds like they will be a managed property that you sort of buy into a bit.

    This wont have any baring on the race track and noise restrictions. Also its soo close to the circuit that it would be moot. It’s basically a Silverstone debencher.

    Also isn’t this going next to the paddock club grandstand? There’s basically an access road there and its all sunk down (theres a small verge where you can stand but from when I’ve been its pretty devoid of spectators even on the F1 weekend).

    The Hotel makes more sense for Silverstone in general as people will want to use it all year round (and if its resonably priced even motorsport fans outside of the F1 weekend – think luxury driving experience + hotel stay type thing). Whereas I think they may have trouble filling these outside of the F1 weekend (maybe Moto GP – but there’s also no guarentee how long that will stay at Silverstone).

    Although maybe its the socially distanced future?

  17. Have been to Silverstone GP twice and to be honest it is a horrible event. Apart from food and actually being in the grandstand, there is nothing to do. Masses of people all being herded round, dirty toilets and long queues for everything.

    Have also been at Australian GP and it was the exact opposite. Can wander through the support car garages, view mechanics working on cars, plenty of other attractions. Of course being in a park helps, as does organisers who want people to enjoy themselves.

    Silverstone just seems to be all about money, if it wasn’t in Britain there is no way I would ever think about going back.

  18. The rendering shows Lewis Hamilton in 2025 on his way to his 13th World title

    1. Hopefully should be well in decline by then and beaten by bottas, he’d be 40.

  19. washy wash wash my money.

    1. So fresh and clean you hardly notice the blood stain patina.

    2. Amazing how no one ever seems to catch on to this. Just like how here in LA, no matter how awful the economy, house prices are jumping $500k a year. Endless money laundering/looted foreign cash.

  20. It’s getting closer and closer to the time when we need to bring out the guillotine again.

  21. “It will seek to redefine access to motorsport”
    No thanks

  22. Sold my pickup truck camper and my camping gear as a down payment for one of these luxury boxes. Got enough from the sale of my pickup that a second Silverstone unit Is now possible. Now I need to buy a jet to fly across the Atlantic.
    How incredibly stupid the idea of a multi-million dollar place to see a race. It’s a shameful endeavor to test this sales market at a such dire times in our Covid World. Stay home and listen to Krusty instead.

  23. Looking at that top picture.
    I can (kind of) understand why people might be interested in the trackside houses, but who in their right mind would want to live in any of the others?
    I’m assuming they will just be sold as normal residences rather than the weird time-share token system?
    You will have all the downsides – No track view, almost constant intrusive noise etc with no upside.
    Perhaps they will be given a discount pass for the track, or maybe a free monthly ear plug allowance?

  24. They’re Luxury Boxes, no doubt LiveNation will have exclusive rights to renting them out for the ‘owners’.

  25. I attended every F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone for the full three days from 1968 and used to stand and watch at Stowe corner. I did this because you could see half of the circuit from the approach to Becketts right around to Farm if you stood by the commentators box. Then they started to build on the inside of the Hanger Straight and put a bridge across the track which obscured the exit of Chapel Curve. Us hoipoloy were then moved towards Club and enormous advertising hoardings were erected each side of the track and an earth bank constructed inside the track, all of this then obscured the view towards Abbey and what with the helicopters parking behind the bank we could see sweet f/a. At this point I decided I would be better sitting at home and watching it all on the BBC! and saving my money. And I haven’t been since. I refuse to pay the exorbitant cost of having Sky F1 so I have to put up with Channel 4 and the stupid Steve Jones comedy hour on a Saturday and Sunday. Heyho!!

  26. Further to my last missive: and now this, God help us, the great unwashed, REAL motor racing fans!!!

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