By Sam Elliott
Topgolf International has announced that Fishers will be the home of the company’s first golf and entertainment location in Indiana.
The Fishers City Council unanimously approved an impact fee agreement at its regular meeting Jan. 19 that will waive approximately $666,000 in city development fees.
Topgolf will invest a minimum of $18 million into the development with plans to begin construction on the 60,000-square-foot venue later this year and to open in the spring of 2017 at 9774 E. 116th St. near Cumberland Road. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness called the resolution that went before the city council an atypical impact fee resolution.
“One of the things that was really important to us was the investment and that the image and vision of what they wanted to build actually comes to fruition. Within this impact resolution, these exhibits are not here just for illustrative purposes, but to hold them accountable for creating the vision that they say they’re going to create,” Fadness said. “From our evaluation of the assessment, if we were to waive impact fees, the rate of return on investment is probably a little less than three years just from a property tax revenue generation — not to mention the income taxes generated off the employees plus the fact that it’s a general draw to our community.”
With 24 locations across the United States and United Kingdom, Topgolf offers a multi-level driving range facility with golf balls containing computer microchips to track players’ shots for accuracy and distance while awarding points for hitting targets in the field.
The three-level Fishers location will include 102 climate-controlled hitting bays that can host up to six players at one time, more than 230 high-definition TVs, 3,000 square feet of private event space and an extensive food and beverage menu.
“The public feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, to the level of IKEA with the type of excitement we’ve seen both personally and over social media,” Fishers’ director of economic development Brandon Dickinson said. “We think it’s a fantastic project and it adds to the overall value of Fishers as a draw to both residents and visitors alike.”
Topgolf vice president of real estate development Zach Shor estimates the Fishers location will serve approximately 450,000 visitors in its first year and a third-party audit estimated its economic output in Fishers to exceed $264.5 million over a 10-year period. Fadness said the facility will create 135 full-time jobs and up to as many as 450 total jobs.
For more, visit TopGolf.com or Facebook.com/TopGolfFishers.
