The first race at the new Circuit of The Americas racetrack in Elroy is still months away, but Hays County is already feeling the economic boost.

Located on 1,000 acres in southeast Travis County, COTA is 15 miles from Buda, and officials say that proximity is a huge plus for Hays County.

"Things are already happening because of Circuit of The Americas," said Warren Ketteman, executive director of the Buda Economic Development Corporation. "Hotels are getting a bounce, which is great for Hays County. If people are sleeping here, they'll impact our economy by buying gas, dining and shopping."

Circuit of The Americas includes a 3.4-mile circuit track, a media and conference center, live entertainment area, retail center, museum and research facility.

Track officials said the venue is also increasing employment in the area.

"In total, Circuit of The Americas is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs," said Ali Putnam, media and community relations manager at COTA. "Approximately 300 full-time equivalent jobs will be created, and on major event days, more than 3,000 seasonal/event-specific employees will be hired. Additionally, the project will create 1,700 construction jobs."

The first event at the track will be the 2012 Formula One United States Grand Prix, which is expected to draw 120,000 people.

"Formula One racing is expected to have an economic impact of approximately $300 million each year for 10 years, as compared to a Super Bowl, for example, which is a single event for a region," Putnam said.

The venue will host dozens of high-profile racing and entertainment events each year.

Lodging

To help accommodate the tens of thousands of visitors, several hotels are under construction, including one in Buda near the Cabela's store. The 35,000-square-foot Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham plans to open just in time for the first race week, which begins Nov. 12.

The hotel, owned by Longhorn Lodging Partners, has an agreement with COTA to reserve rooms for race fans. Rooms can be booked through Hotels for Hope, a charitable organization that asks hoteliers to donate $1 per night's stay.

Hotels aren't the only businesses feeling the effects of F1. Diana Blank, director of the Economic Development office for the City of Kyle, said the city's entertainment facilities also are in demand.

"The host committee needs facilities to host sponsorship events for 1,000-plus people," she said. "The Grand Prix weekend, especially, is full of opportunities for our community. But the facility also offers a diverse array of uses throughout the year that will grow and support the regional economy."

Michael Hemby, planning manager at the Travis County Sheriff's Office, described F1 and its fans as "the biggest thing to land in our laps in a long time."

"At the end of the day, the bottom line is your city has the potential to make a bunch of money," Hemby said.

Foreign visitors

He said fans of F1 follow their favorite drivers and teams all over the world.

"Foreign individuals, dignitaries, diplomats—you will have a lot of them. This crowd will travel with the circuit," he said. "If Brazil is doing great, there will be a lot of Brazilians here. If Mexico happens to be in the top running toward the end, we will have a lot of people coming up from Mexico."

Rebecca Ybarra-Ramirez, executive director of the San Marcos Convention and Visitors Bureau, said hotels have begun selling blocks of rooms for a week or more at a time.

"People will be here for up to 10 days. These people have no concept of a wallet, [of] carrying a wallet," she said. "Everything is prepaid. Everything is a package deal—several thousands of dollars that [they] will be prepaying to come here."

A general admission ticket to the race Nov. 18 is $150. Hemby said cities should be prepared for F1 fans to spend significantly more during race week.

He highlighted one request his office received from a hotel in Austin.

"One of their clients wanted to know how much it would cost them to simply lease the intersection at First [Street] and Congress [Avenue]," he said. "They just wanted to rent the street. Why? 'Because I'd like to put my helicopter there.' "

Transportation

The San Marcos Municipal Airport is among those gearing up for the race. Many spectators will arrive via private aircraft—including helicopters—which means they will need a place to land, fuel and store their planes.

"Traffic at the San Marcos airport is almost exclusively private aircraft, so we are well-versed in meeting the needs of this sect of the populations," Airport Manager Stephen Alexander said. "We are in the process of identifying our capacity for storing the aircraft and ensuring we have sufficient personnel to handle the increased air traffic."

Alexander is working with two fixed-base operators at the airport—companies that sell fuel and accommodate aircraft storage—and remains in constant contact with COTA to ensure the airport is ready for the influx of traffic.

"It's the same as if San Marcos or Hays County held a fair—we need to plan for parking and transportation. Details need to be worked out in advance," he said.

Parking at the track will be limited to 17,000 spots, so part of the transportation plan will involve shuttling spectators from remote lots to the track and back again.

David Grear, Travis County traffic engineer, said about 500 shuttles will be used to move 80,000 visitors.

The main entrance to the track is a two-lane state road, FM 812.

"We just don't have enough road capacity around this track to handle 120,000 people," he said. "[So] we're repaving that road and striping it to have two 11-foot travel lanes and two 11-foot shoulders. We're going to contraflow that road with three lanes in, one lane out."

Hemby said race week will have an effect similar to that of a University of Texas football game, one of which had to be rescheduled because of the F1 race.

Streets in many areas will be closed, traffic will be diverted and residents throughout Hays and Travis counties should expect travel to be slower than usual. Organizers expect nearly 300,000 fans during the week.

"These are people with Ferraris and Lamborghinis—lots of them—and they're going to come from all over," he said. "Things will be different."