Topgolf is coming to New Orleans, setting up new clash over rival project a few miles away

A new Topgolf venue is planned for the huge River District development going up on land owned by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, setting up another potential clash with a rival golf-entertainment complex that is being built a few miles away on Howard Avenue.

The Convention Center’s board on Wednesday approved building a Topgolf complex on land that was previously designated for affordable housing, which will now be built on another part of the huge 47-acre site.

In a statement released after the board vote, the center said that the deal is the first of many expected to be signed by the River District Neighborhood Investment group, which is led by local developer Louis Lauricella and Dallas-based Cypress Equities. The consortium’s plan to spend at least $1 billion to build an entire new neighborhood on the riverfront over the next decade was given final approval by the board earlier this year.

River District officials said that Topgolf will spend roughly $40 million on the new facility, which is expected to create between 400 and 450 new jobs once fully operational.

Construction on a parcel of the River District neighborhood development near Tchoupitoulas and Race streets is expected to begin in November, they said.

“Today’s announcement marks exciting progress in our master development of a one-of-its-kind opportunity for residents and visitors to work, play and stay along the Mississippi River.” said Lauricella in a prepared statement.

A mulligan

The announcement is the second time in four years that the Convention Center board has proposed putting a Topgolf on the barren acres it controls near the massive facility.

In 2019, those plans were scuttled after public officials, including Gov. John Bel Edwards, raised questions about the deal.

The controversy soured the relationship between Convention Center officials and Joe Jaeger, who was involved in a rival Drive Shack project at the site of the former Times-Picayune building on Howard Avenue, and resulted in him stepping away from partnerships connected to the Convention Center land.

504 Golf

The Drive Shack project was eventually shelved as well. But in November, a local investment group said they were planning to revive the project as 504 Golf.

Alex Xiao, lead partner for 504 Golf, said Wednesday that he was “infuriated” by the deal and that his group plans to object to it on the same grounds that were raised four years ago. At the time, the Convention Center board faced criticism about the process for selecting Topgolf.

Edwards called the deal “problematic.”

“I don’t see the difference between four years ago and today,” said Xiao, who bought the Howard Avenue site and the Drive Shack plans. “For a board that feels so strongly about promoting locally owned and minority-owned businesses, this move is a gut punch not just to our team, but to the city of New Orleans.”

The original plan under Jaeger had backing from City Hall as well as Edwards, as it promised to breathe new life into the B.W. Cooper neighborhood and provide job opportunities in a part of the city that sorely needs them.

Xiao said that his group has already purchased the land and spent nearly $15 million on the project that will create over 150 jobs.

“We have a full team of local investors trying to pick up that eyesore site and we believe in the city,” said Xaio. “Anyway, isn’t that a publicly owned site?” he asked, referring to the state-owned Convention Center land. “Now we’re trying to have the government compete with a local investor group? It doesn’t add up.”

A ‘pure deal’

John Lawson, a spokesman for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, said that the mayor and City Council have been asked to give the same incentives to 504 Golf as were in place for Drive Shack.

The River District consortium has not asked for any incentives for their Topgolf project and Lawson said the administration is maintaining a neutral stance about the rival projects.

“We’ve been tracking both projects, and the city is happy to see the interest in two long-fallow sites potentially being brought back to commerce,” he said.

Michael Sawaya, the president and general manager of the Convention Center, who four years ago had negotiated a tentative deal with Topgolf only to see it scuttled, said the current deal is no longer his concern.

“We have leased the site to River District and they have leased it to Topgolf,” said Sawaya. “It is a pure deal with no tax breaks and no incentives and it’s none of my business.”

Affordable housing

One question raised by board members on Wednesday concerned how the driving range would impact affordable housing plans.

The Topgolf complex is proposed for parcels 1a and 1b, which are the plots furthest away from the river. The board of commissioners voted Wednesday to approve moving proposed affordable and workforce housing to parcels 5, 6, and 7, which are closer to the river.

“Our vision has always been for this mixed-use development to encompass entertainment, housing and hospitality,” said Jerry Reyes, chairman of the convention center’s oversight board, in a prepared statement after the vote. “This project advances that plan, and it does so while respecting our commitment to the inclusion of workforce and affordable housing units.”

Though some commissioners expressed concern that making way for Topgolf signaled the potential that affordable housing components of the River District development might get delayed, Tara Hernandez, owner of JCH Properties, which is part of the consortium, assured them that the promised 450 units designated as affordable would proceed promptly.