Developer bets big on former Manor Downs site, plans industrial park

A Dallas firm has purchased the former site of the Manor Downs horse racing track north of Austin, with plans to build an industrial park with more than 1 million square feet of space on the property. Situated outside Manor on the north side of U.S. 290, Manor Downs was once billed as Texas' oldest pari-mutuel horse track. The venue closed in 2010 as the sport declined in popularity.

In its heyday, Manor Downs staged everything from horse races to concerts, with performers including the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young and Johnny Cash. The venue also was the site of the Farm Aid II benefit concert in 1986 with an all-star lineup. On the bill were Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker and many more. The next act for the Manor Downs site will be very different. Dalfen Industrial, one of the nation’s largest buyers and developers of industrial real estate, is buying the entire 146-acre Manor Downs property. Dalfen plans to build an industrial park on the site with six buildings that will bring more than 1 million square feet of space to an area the company says "benefits from high demand and low vacancy rates."