Topgolf project to get underway in Northeast Philadelphia, with King of Prussia to follow

Source, Philadelphia Business Journal, Natalie Kostelni

The development of a new Topgolf in Northeast Philadelphia is expected to begin April 19 and another facility in King of Prussia is anticipated to get underway this summer.

The Topgolf in Northeast Philadelphia will be constructed on 27 acres at the former Nabisco and Mondelēz International factory at 12000 Roosevelt Blvd. The King of Prussia facility will rise at the former American Baptist Churches USA headquarters at 588 N. Gulph Road. That property totals 48.5 acres.

Topgolf as an entertainment concept for families and corporate gatherings was popular before the pandemic and excelled during the coronavirus. The popularity of golf has grown since it provided an outdoor, socially distanced activity.

Each Topgolf has three stories, totals 68,000 square feet and costs about $35 million to build out. The facilities involve extensive technology and electronic systems for ball collection systems.

Provco Group, a Villanova real estate company, sold the Northeast Philadelphia property to Topgolf right before the pandemic in March 2020 with the intention of starting the project soon thereafter. “Covid set us back 12 months,” said Michael Cooley, vice president at Provco. “This time last year we were getting ready to deliver the pad at the Nabisco property and they put everything on hold.”

Provco completed about $2 million of road improvements in preparation for the project including widening roads, adding signalization and putting in a new turn lane.

As part of the redevelopment of the former Nabisco site, Provco also developed a Wawa and an additional 40,000 square feet of retail space. The Wawa was completed two years ago and leasing is underway for the remainder of the space. A Chick-fil-A is also part of the development.

In King of Prussia, Provco purchased the former American Baptist property early March 2020 for $24 million, according to the Montgomery Country property records. Again, the pandemic set that project back by 12 months, Cooley said.

“We’re going to pick up where we left off,” he said. “We have finalized the agreement with Topgolf, have all of the approvals and hope to get that project started this summer.”

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) entered into a deal in October to acquire Dallas-based Topgolf Entertainment Group, Callaway. The transaction closed March 12.

Callaway of Carlsbad, California, is a leader in the global golf equipment market that already had a 14% ownership stake in Topgolf beginning in 2006. Under terms of the final deal, Callaway issued approximately 90 million shares of its common stock to the shareholders of Topgolf.

The deal also has Callaway assuming Topgolf’s net debt, which is estimated to be $555 million at closing, resulting in an estimated value for Topgolf of approximately $2.5 billion. Topgolf generated roughly $1.1 billion in revenue in 2019.

The combination of TopGolf with Callaway will create a company with pro forma 2019 revenue of nearly $2.8 billion.