Arrow McLaren calls off Whitestown move, to take over Andretti HQ in Indy

Pato O'Ward drives for McLaren in the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 28, 2023. IIBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)

McLaren Racing has shifted gears on its plans for a new office facility in central Indiana, as the group announced over the weekend that it will acquire the current Andretti Autosport building in Indianapolis once Andretti makes its move to a new headquarters in Fishers in 2025.

The decision comes one year after the Woking, England-based racing company said it would spend $25 million to build a 97,000-square-foot facility in Whitestown to house its Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team, workshops and a training center.

Instead, it will move to 7615 Zionsville Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis—to a facility that is slightly larger, at 98,000 square feet—once Andretti’s own planned $200 million project near Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers is completed.

The move is “a better option” for the group, given the challenges of new construction and the fact that the facility they were moving into is already designed to house a racing team, Gavin Ward, racing director for Arrow McLaren SP, told IBJ.

“It really gives us the option to upgrade that building, before we move in and [bring it to] the level we need,” he said. “It came about pretty fast, but it took a little while to actually get something done.”

Arrow McLaren still plans to invest in the property on a “similar scale” to what it planned for the Whitestown facility, he said, but designs are still in their early stages.  The team also plans to grow its headcount, though it’s not clear by how much. In 2022, the company employed 75 people.

“I’m excited for the team to have a new home—one that has plenty of space and is fit for purpose as we compete for wins and championships, McLaren Racing CEO Zac Brown said in written remarks. “Arrow McLaren has had quick growth over the past year, and this facility not only gives the team the space they need today but what we envision our growth to be in North America in the years to come.”

Ward said Arrow McLaren plans to take ownership of the building in the second quarter of 2025, with a six-month buildout for improvements before the team moves in later that year. Financial terms of the pending sale were not disclosed.

Idea-wise, “we’re not ruling out any anything right now,” Ward said. “Regardless of how it may be laid out or what’s in there right now, we’re going to try and make it suit the needs of the team. So, we’re weighing a lot of possibilities, whether that’s reconfiguration layout-wise or adding different [elements]. All options are still on the table.”

Arrow McLaren SP is the seventh-largest motorsports company in the Indianapolis area, according to IBJ research, based on its employment of 75 at its current location at 6803 Coffman Road.

At 33,000 square feet, that building is too small for the kind of operation the firm has in Indianapolis, Ward said. This year, it has three full-time drivers and also fielded Tony Kanaan for his final Indianapolis 500 drive on Sunday.

When the team announced its plans last year at the Indiana Global Economic Summit, a showcase event from the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the company was expected to receive undisclosed incentives for the project.

Ward said conversations with the IEDC continue, but no deal has yet been finalized. He said there are no active conversations with the city of Indianapolis for incentives.

“The team is ultra-competitive right now, and with an opportunity like this that fell in our laps, when we had a chance to see the space and envision how we could use it, we knew that this was the right way to go for the team and would set us up best for the future.”