Courtesy / Kevin Browne Architecture
Throttle Car Club at Innovation District will feature a membership club, auto storage, and event and co-working space.
Updated: October 19, 2020
Combined car club-events center takes shape at the Downs
Courtesy / Samuel Nonni
From left, Jamie Nonni, Kevin Gross and Derek Parent are partnering to build a 35,000-square-foot venue, seen under construction behind them, designed with a strong focus on events while also allowing car enthusiasts to socialize and share their passion for all kinds of automobiles. The auto enthusiasts are seen with a 1975 Datsun 280z, 1968 Chevy Camaro and an all-electric 2019 Jaguar IPace.
An unusual idea for a membership-based car club and general events space is coming together at the Innovation District, a mixed-use industrial park located at The Downs in Scarborough.
“This is something that evolved as a concept a long time ago,” said Jamie Nonni, one of three friends who partnered to buy the district’s Lot 29, 1.2-acre parcel of land, from Crossroads Holdings LLC for $515,000.
Katie Allen from NAI The Dunham Group and Jon Rizzo from the Boulos Co. brokered the sale, which closed July 13.
The Throttle Car Club is designed to have a strong focus on events while also allowing car enthusiasts to socialize and share their passion for all kinds of automobiles, from classic to contemporary, trucks, sports cars and electric vehicles.
Member lounge, events
The venue combines several ideas.
It will offer inside storage for 72 cars, four garage bays plus tools and infrastructure for members to work on their own vehicles and for vendors to offer lessons, and a full-service professional car detailing shop open to the public.
On the second story, a 1,500-square-foot space will be fitted up as a private member lounge, with a bar, two large viewing areas to be able to view storage cars below, and state-of-the-art simulators and games such as high-definition golf and sports-racing.
Another 1,200 square feet of indoor space, connected with a 1,200-square-foot roof deck, will be available to rent for social, corporate and charity events. And 7,200 square feet of co-working office space and a conference room will be available to lease.
The main entrance on the first level will feature one or two cars on public display that will rotate out from time to time.
All together, the two-story building, now under construction, will be 35,000 square feet.
The venue was conceived by Nonni and some of his long-time friends, Derek Parent and Kevin Gross.
Car guys
Nonni is founder and CEO of MuniciPAY, a cloud-based payment system in Portland that serves municipalities across the nation as well as hospitals and other medical facilities.
Parent is a senior project manager with Northeast Remediation, an environmental engineering and demolition firm in Newburyport, Mass.
Gross is director of corporate development for Icon Automotive, a motor vehicle service company headquartered in Philadelphia. Gross is based in Massachusetts.
The three were all born and raised in Gardner, Mass., and have known each other since elementary school, they explained in a joint interview.
How did the idea for Throttle come about?
“It came from Jamie’s brain,” said Parent.
“I’ve always tinkered with old cars,” says Nonni. “I’ve got seven today. Three are drivable and four are not.”
“And I question the three,” joked Parent.
Nonni and Gross have messed around with cars for years, both classic and contemporary. Nonni recalls doodling pictures of cars when he was in high school; Gross has tinkered with them before he even had his driver’s license. Parent isn’t a car guy, but he grew up around the other two driving and restoring some of the classics.
“I do love cars; I just might not be as addicted as them,” Parent said.
Multiple revenue sources
The tipping point for getting the car-themed social club was when Nonni in 2018 sold his previous business, Nationwide Payment Solutions.
“I was looking to invest in some kind of real estate venture,” Nonni said. “I wanted it to be something that was fun. I’ve been in the payments industry for over 20 years and I wanted to go a different direction.”
But to make the numbers work, he said, he realized it had to be a larger, mixed-use venture that generated multiple sources of revenue.
He solicited input from Parent and Gross and the three explored car clubs elsewhere in the country, ultimately creating a plan that was centered on the automotive experience but also had hospitality and office leasing elements.
“This facility offers the ability to generate multiple revenue sources without the club incurring a lot of debt,” Nonni said, adding, “This allows us to focus on growing and servicing our membership while keeping the clubs overhead lean.”
They chose Innovation District as their location because it’s close to Nonni’s Portland offices, because of The Downs’ overall development concept as its own community and its available infrastructure, and because of its convenient access to traffic corridors. The lot they selected is large enough to accommodate 60 parking spaces.
The project broke ground on July 24. Risbara Brothers Construction Co. performed the site work and Nonni, Gross and Parent are the general contractors.
Construction includes the installation of an 80,000-kilowatt, 192-panel solar array system, with the goal of covering all of the building’s energy consumption. With health guidelines in mind, office and event spaces will include UV sanitation and state-of-the-art HVAC systems.
“We’re looking at this in different ways to make this space workable,” said Nonni. “This is a very efficient and very safe building.
Investment fund
All together, investment in the project is expected to be about $4 million. That includes the purchase price of the land and about $100,000 for the cost of the high-end simulators.
Canam Buildings, headquartered in Saint-Georges, Quebec, finalized the partners’ sketch design and transitioned it to a steel prefabricated building system called Murox. The system reduces construction time by up to 50%, according to Canam’s website.
Nonni financed the construction of the project out of an investment fund he formed from the sale of Nationwide Payments.
Aiming for an April 2021 opening, the three plan to kick off a marketing campaign for membership around Nov. 1. Annual memberships are expected to range from $1,500 to $2,000. Twenty percent of memberships have been committed so far. The partners have been approached about hosting future events at the venue, from vendor presentations to beer tasting nights. A car dealership also reached out about showing off its latest models at the venue, as a way to leverage the inherently interested audience.
“This place can be a conduit for demonstrating some of the latest, greatest products and technology to a room full of automotive enthusiasts,” said Nonni. “I think that concept is our own.”
Marketing will include not only reaching out to potential members but to event planners. The venue will launch with a membership cap of 250, with the possibility of more as things progress, said Nonni. Combined indoor/outdoor event space capacity will be 150; indoor alone is 95. The number could potentially grow to 250 by incorporating other spaces within the facility. Events don’t have to be car-related. The partners also plan to host larger public events such as an annual charity car show and occasional cruise-ins.
The project has gone smoothly despite the pandemic, other than the fact that planning has had to be done virtually. Nonni and Parent have both been in Maine to manage the project.
The three think the concept is unusual for the Northeast.
“There are plenty of car shows here in Maine,” said Nonni. “But there hasn’t been a place where people can congregate and someone can bring vendors and events into the space.”
He added, “A funny side to this is, because I have several vehicles, I ran out of space to put them. So I’ve always had the idea of developing maybe a small storage building where other people could store things and help pay the bill to keep my addiction to vehicles going. That evolved to this 35,000-square-foot, multi-use facility.”
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Anonymous
October 28, 2020
I suggest that you offer space to existing clubs to meet in your facility. There are a few groups like Cumberland Motor Club, and a Porsche Club of America chapter in the area. It would be a way to connect with your target market. Do you have a big enough parking lot for autocross? :-)
Anonymous
October 20, 2020
Terrific concept. Hope it does well. I believe it will. Wish it was closer to home.
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