A site plan for a proposed 72-hitting bay Topgolf is under review by West Des Moines, however, a construction timeline for the much-anticipated venue has not been shared with the city’s staff.

Dallas-based Topgolf Entertainment Group announced over a year ago that it planned on opening its first Iowa location on the northwest corner of Jordan Creek and Mills Civic parkways.

Since the announcement, developers and city staff have met several times to discuss ways guests could access the venue from surrounding streets, two of which have center medians, city council members were told during a recent Development and Planning Council Subcommittee meeting.

“There have been some challenges with this site,” City Manager Tom Hadden said during the meeting. “We thought we got what was best for both [the city and the developer].”

A median on Mills Civic Parkway will be modified to allow traffic in and out of the venue, a city staffer told council members.

Topgolf has been a national entertainment venue that residents have frequently asked for in Central Iowa.

The company opened its first U.S. venue in 2005 in Alexandria, Va. Initially, Topgolf located venues in areas with populations of 1 million or more. In 2019, it began opening venues in medium-sized markets, including Omaha, where it opened a facility in mid-2020.

Topgolf now has 90 venues including its newest two in St. Petersburg, Fla., and King of Prussia, Pa., both of which opened in June and have 102 climate-controlled hitting bays on three levels.

The proposed West Des Moines venue, which will face Coachlight Drive/South 77th Street, will be two levels with 19,630 square feet of space, according to city officials. Lights on tall poles that will light the golf range will face east toward Jordan Creek Parkway.

City officials said that they have reviewed whether the light poles and tall poles that support netting surrounding the driving range will cause interference between the antenna at the WestCom Emergency Communications Center at 8055 Mills Civic Parkway and an antenna that is on top of a water tower at South 50th Street.

“This has been analyzed by WestCom and their engineering consultants,” Linda Schemmel, West Des Moines’ development coordinator, wrote in an email. “They determined no issues based on the proposed building/pole placement.”

Schemmel wrote that Topgolf officials have not shared when construction of the project is expected to begin.

Topgolf did not respond to an email requesting information about the project.

Related story: How developer Richard Hurd landed Topgolf

Future of Suite Shots
Plans to develop a golf entertainment facility called Suite Shots on undeveloped land south of Grand Avenue and west of Interstate Highway 35 have been shelved, the project’s developer told the Business Record.

However, Paul Cownie did not rule out locating the entertainment venue in another location.

“We couldn’t close on the original location in West Des Moines for a number of reasons outside of our control,” Cownie wrote in a text message. Asked if he was looking for a different location, Cownie reiterated that “as of today, we are not moving forward at the original location.”

In fall 2021, Cownie announced plans for Suite Shots, a golf-centered entertainment venue with a restaurant, bar and 60 climate-controlled bays from which golf balls could be hit onto a range. The area surrounding Suite Shots was proposed to include a hotel, restaurants and office space.

Some residents of Glen Oaks, a gated community built around a private golf course, opposed the development saying it would be an eyesore and would lower the value of their properties. The residents filed lawsuits in an effort to stop the development. A judge dismissed the lawsuits.

Bombers update
Development is underway on a 35-acre site at 5505 Merle Hay Road that will be home to Bombers, an indoor family entertainment center with 36 climate-controlled hitting bays overlooking a 270-yard driving range.

Buildings have been demolished that had been on the site and grading has begun. The next steps are installing utilities and other infrastructure, developer Allen Stoye told the Business Record. “We expect to go vertical in late August or early September.”

Stoye expects the facility to be open by fall 2024.