AUSTIN, TX—SEPTEMBER 28, 2021—According to a story by Shonda Novak posted on the AmericanStatesman.com website earlier this week, a Dallas firm has purchased the former Manor Downs racetrack east of Austin and has plans to build an industrial park with more than 1 million square feet of space.

Situated outside Manor, Texas on U.S. 290, Manor Downs was once billed as Texas' oldest pari-mutuel horse track. The venue closed in 2010.

The industrial project at the Manor Downs site is replacing a shuttered racetrack and concert venue with a storied history in the Austin area dating back to the 70s. The track hosted live Quarter Horses and Thoroughbred horse racing, as well as simulcasts of races held elsewhere.

In its heyday, Manor Downs staged concerts, with performers including the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young and Johnny Cash.

The racetrack site also served as the venue Willie Nelson's Farm Aid II benefit concert in 1986. The all-star lineup included Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker and many more.

Dalfen Industrial, one of the nation’s largest buyers and developers of industrial real estate, is purchasing the entire 146-acre tract and plans to build an industrial park on the site with six buildings that will bring more than 1 million square feet square feet of leasable space.

The complex is expected to completed by the fourth quarter of 2023 and will retain the Manor Downs name.

Dalfen currently owns and operates industrial properties with 30 million square feet of space in the United States.