The prospect of a flagship Topgolf location serving up food, drinks and premium views of San Diego Bay and downtown’s skyline is becoming more rooted in reality.
On Tuesday, Port of San Diego Commissioners voted unanimously to begin environmental review of the driving-range project, an action that tees up formal consideration of the entertainment establishment on an 8.5-acre site along North Harbor Drive. Commissioner Danielle Moore excused herself from the vote, citing a potential conflict of interest.
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“We hear a lot of public comment about ... the tidelands and the public trust and public land and the people. And the longer I’m on this commission, the more I think when I hear those comments (is), ‘Which people? Who is the public?’ I’ve never talked about a project ... that has got (as) much interest as this project,” Commissioner Rafael Castellanos said, referencing the agency’s duty to hold San Diego tidelands in trust for the benefit of all Californians. “Give the people what they want.”
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“I don’t know if I’ll ever go to a Topgolf,” he added. “But there is a tremendous demand for people to come and be entertained at a venue that could bring half a million people a year to the Port of San Diego.”
Started in 1999, Topgolf International has popularized a video-game inspired version of the classic driving range where small groups eat, drink and compete in “hitting bays.” Players score points by hitting balls equipped with technology measuring distance, height, speed and other variables.
The company was acquired in March 2021 by Carlsbad’s Callaway Golf Company in an all-stock deal valued at more than $3 billion. Shortly afterward, Callaway changed its name to Topgolf Callaway Brands. The company said it will open its 86th Topgolf location on Friday.
The proposed Topgolf facility is a partial open-air structure that includes restaurant, bar and meeting space, outdoor patios, three levels of driving-range bays, and additional games and entertainment.
(Courtesy, Port of San Diego)
The East Harbor Island project, which has an estimated price tag of $50 million, is modeled after Topgolf’s largest U.S. prototype, company executives told commissioners.
The draft project description, submitted to the agency earlier this year, calls for a 70,700 square-foot, three-level facility with 102 hitting bays that open up to a 4.5-acre outfield and 10 underground golf targets. The entertainment venue also includes multiple restaurant and bar areas, outdoor decks, event space and 293 parking spaces. The driving range, as proposed, will be surrounded by a polyester barrier netting system suspended on poles up to 170 feet in height.
“We have the expertise and the financial strength to open and operate these successfully, and all the locations are important to us and their communities. However, this San Diego Harbor Island project will be an emotionally important one to us,” said Chip Brewer, who is the president and CEO of Topgolf Callaway Brands. “This is our home. We love San Diego. And this will be a flagship for us, and we also believe it would add value to the city that we call home.”
The board’s vote of approval does not constitute project approval, but does initiate an environmental review, a condition of the California Environmental Quality Act and a step that could take up to two years. The analysis will be performed alongside lease negotiations for the site, port staff said.
A rendering inside the proposed 70,700 square-foot Topgolf facility. The three-level facility would include 102 hitting bays alongside restaurant and bar areas, event space and 293 parking spaces, according to a project description submitted to the Port of San Diego.
(Courtesy, Port of San Diego)
The Port of San Diego has carved out space for Topgolf on the basin side of East Harbor Island, opposite San Diego’s airport, where car rental companies used to operate. The proposed location is just west of Liberator Way, facing east with views of downtown, the Coronado bridge and San Diego Bay.
The location became available in early 2019 when developer OliverMcMillan backed out of a plan to redo 48 acres of land and water with a hotel, “boatel” and retail project.
Topgolf, which had been eyeing a tidelands venue since 2015, reentered the picture with its vision for a driving range on a portion of the abandoned project site. Initially, port commissioners, including Castellanos, were not enthusiastic about the prospect of a high-cost entertainment venue taking over a sizable chunk of the agency’s best land. However they agreed in late 2019 to enter an exclusive negotiating agreement with the company. The contract was not executed until January of this year as the agency considered how to tackle broader redevelopment of its waterfront real estate.
Earlier this year, the port’s appetite for the venue shifted substantially, fueled by a belief that the attraction will bring hundreds of thousands of people to the waterfront each year.
“Situated across from the airport with spectacular views of downtown, the highest and best use is clearly not overflow parking for rental car operations,” Tony Gordon, who is the port’s director of real estate, said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “Early redevelopment efforts for East Harbor Island recognize that a key to the successful redevelopment of the east basin is a use that will draw people to the area. We believe that Topgolf is that type of use.”
The project received favorable reviews from Commissioners Castellanos, Dan Malcolm, Ann Moore, Frank Urtasun and Michael Zucchet. In addition, members of the public, most of whom spoke on behalf of regional agencies, nonprofits and labor unions, largely voiced support of the Topgolf venue. A few commentators, however, objected to putting the commercial enterprise on the bay.
“There couldn’t be a worse location, in my estimation, for a driving range than Harbor Island. Mira Mesa, Sorrento Valley, Kearny Mesa are all excellent locations. I think (Topgolf would) be great there,” said Paul Krueger, who is an advocate of parks and open space. “This is the people’s land. This is the people’s port.”
Topgolf is also looking to build a second location in San Diego at an existing driving range in Sorrento Valley.
