A high-tech driving range is being planned for a plot of riverfront land controlled by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, posing a direct challenge to a rival range set to open at the former Times-Picayune building site about three miles away.
Topgolf is aiming to build a new driving range and entertainment complex on a nearly 9-acre site abutting Tchoupitoulas and Euterpe streets on the upriver side of the Crescent City Connection, according to documents posted Monday by the board that runs the Convention Center.
The Dallas-based company, which operates more than 50 golf and entertainment venues across the U.S., including one in Baton Rouge, plans to lease the site for 20 years from the Convention Center at an annual rate that will start at just over $1.2 million, according to a proposed lease.
As part of the proposed deal, the Convention Center would build a parking lot on adjacent land and share the revenue from it with Topgolf.
The proposed lease is set to be discussed at a meeting of the Convention Center's board on Tuesday. It comes as officials there are pushing to develop several tracts of land at the upriver end of the Convention Center that are now unused or serve as parking lots.
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The biggest, and most controversial, proposal is for a 1,200-room Omni hotel that would be attached to the Convention Center and potentially serve as a headquarters for large conventions. Tourism officials view the hotel as an anchor for a proposed multiple-block entertainment complex full of shops, restaurants and other venues.
Convention Center President and General Manager Michael Sawaya deferred comment on the Topgolf proposal until after the board's discussion. But he said the "overall vision is to do the hotel and with the remaining 39 acres it'll be mixed-use residential, specialty retail and entertainment, the whole idea being to create new demand in New Orleans and enhance its appeal as a destination."
Topgolf spokesperson Caroline Jerome declined to provide further details on the proposed New Orleans complex, but said the company is "very excited about potential expansion in Louisiana and hope to share some exciting news in the next couple weeks."
A Topgolf facility, should it move forward, would represent the second high-tech driving range set to be built on unused land in New Orleans now that competitor DriveShack is in the process of building its own premium driving range at 3800 Howard Ave., next to the Broad Street overpass over the Pontchartrain Expressway.
Topgolf was reportedly in talks to develop a venue at that site in 2017. Earlier this year, it opened its first Louisiana location in Baton Rouge, which was pitched by the company as a potential draw to tourists in New Orleans as well.
The Convention Center location on the edge of the Lower Garden District would be significantly closer to areas that are heavily trafficked by tourists and convention attendees than the Howard Avenue site. It would be just a few blocks from historic Coliseum Square.
Few details were available Monday, but it's likely that the attraction would include a sizable building as well as the large, multi-story nets that surround the driving range portion of other Topgolf properties.
As negotiations continue behind the scenes over the terms of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s proposed 1,200-room high-rise Omni Hotel…
Topgolf started nearly 20 years ago in the United Kingdom as a concept to turn dowdy suburban driving ranges into entertainment destinations.
The company's locations are mostly in the U.S. and feature food and drinks as well as a tech-heavy golf component. The driving ranges feature, for example, balls with embedded microchips that patrons hit at brightly lit distance targets, accumulating points as they play.
Drive Shack's parent had long operated conventional golf courses under the American Golf Course banner, but it is a relative upstart in the driving range entertainment business.
It opened its first, and so far only, venue in Orlando last April. But it has three set to open this summer — in Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Next year, besides the New Orleans venue, it plans to open in Houston; Chicago; Newport Beach, California; and Portland, Oregon.
The rivalry between Topgolf and Drive Shack heated up last fall when Drive Shack hired Ken May, who had been Topgolf's CEO during its biggest growth phase.
The ultimate deadline for 3800 Howard Avenue has arrived.
Drive Shack's $29 million Howard Avenue project will occupy the site of the old Times-Picayune building, which is currently undergoing demolition.
The site was bought in 2016 by a consortium led by developer Joe Jaeger, with partners including Barry Kern of Mardi Gras World and developer Arnold Kirschman.
Jaeger is also involved in developing the Convention Center's $557.5 million Omni hotel project. A decision about that project is expected to be made this year.
Under the proposed lease terms between the Convention Center and Topgolf, the rent would rise to $1,347,500 a year for years 11 through 16, and to $1,482,250 for the subsequent five years.
The Convention Center would build the parking facility with 578 spaces on 4.5 acres. It would supply equipment and would take 62.5 percent of the revenue, with Topgolf getting 37.5 percent.
