The Mobile City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to support a $1.25 million direct incentive to the developers of a Topgolf entertainment complex within the McGowin Park Shopping Center.
The approval comes more than a week after the Mobile County Commission, with a 2-1 vote, endorsed their $1.25 million incentive for the same project.
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The company is planning to build a $22 million complex on 9-1/2 acres where a closed multiplex cinema is currently located. The two-story structure will include 60 hitting bays, mini-golf, an outdoor patio, restaurant and bar and meeting rooms.
“We are thrilled to have completed a major milestone on our journey to bring the Topgolf experience to Mobile,” a company statement emailed to AL.com reads.
“While our construction timelines are still being updated and finalized, we are committed to providing more details on our planned development as they become available, but as of now we plan to welcome the community to Mobile to Topgolf by late 2023.”
Incentive support
The Topgolf project in Mobile will be the company’s third in Alabama. Similar venues were opened in 2017 in Huntsville and Birmingham.
But neither of those venues required city officials to dish out direct financial incentives.
Huntsville did provide infrastructure improvements within the MidCity District development where Topgolf is located, but city taxpayers were not required to pay a direct incentive.
In Birmingham, a $1.5 million incentive package was rejected after the company failed to meet the city’s goal of having 30% participation by minority- and women-based firms during the venue’s construction.
Mobile city officials, however, said they felt comfortable with the incentive package.
“This is pretty much a game changer for our region,” Council President CJ Small said. “We always see money leaving our state and going to Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia… and going to the casinos. Now we have something to draw those people and to a family-friendly atmosphere.”
Said Councilman Scott Jones, “It’s a great endeavor for our city.”
Jones said he believes the city will recoup its investment quickly and called the venue a potential “money-maker for our city in so many ways.”
“We have a gap in this city providing recreation like this,” said Jones. “It’s an entertainment venue. It will provide jobs. We would miss an outstanding opportunity if we did not successfully complete the process and say, ‘Welcome aboard to Mobile.'”
Competition and wages
Council members, during their pre-conference session, raised some questions about competition and wages.
Jones asked a representative with Topgolf’s development team whether the company — owned by golf sports equipment manufacturing giant, Callaway Golf – was planning to build a similar complex in Northwest Florida or the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The closest Topgolf venues to Mobile are in Baton Rouge and Birmingham. Both cities are approximately 200 miles from Mobile. There are approximately 80 Topgolf locations worldwide, and the company is planning to build about 15 more over the next several years.
Jones asked if there were any territorial “protections” in the lease to protect Mobile if Topgolf built another venue nearby.
“There are no protections put into place in the lease,” said John Whitson with RealtyLink, the developers of Mobile’s Topgolf project. “I don’t think that is a near-term concern.”
Councilwoman Gina Gregory said she had received questions from concerned constituents about past lawsuits the company had faced over wage disputes. Topgolf, for instance, settled a class-action lawsuit in March that claimed the company incentivized managers at its US locations to pay employees less than the federal minimum wage for untipped labor.
In 2021, Topgolf also had to pay back $750,000 to employees in 25 states for unpaid overtime.
Gregory said it’s her understanding that the legal issues over wages are “in the past” and are unrelated to the current ownership structure of Topgolf. Callaway Golf purchased the Topgolf brand in March 2021.
Gregory also provided some additional information on wages for the future venue that had not been previously disclosed by the company. She said there will be approximately 30 salaried positions at $50,000 a year plus benefits, 120 part-time and full-time jobs that pay an hourly rate of up to $27 an hour. Wait staff that works over 28 hours per week will also be eligible for full-time benefits.
Related content: Topgolf wins Mobile County support, but incentives questioned
Gregory defended the incentives, saying the tax revenue generated by the complex will eventually go towards financing city services like resurfacing roads and building sidewalks.
The Mobile Chamber, in its assessment of the project, anticipates Topgolf’s presence repaying its government incentives in less than 2-1/2 years. Chamber officials also anticipate a 40% rate of return in sales and property taxes.
“I can understand where the concerns come from, but I certainly hope that each of here and in the city of Mobile will come and participate and make this a hugely successful venture,” Gregory said. “I believe this is a good investment for the city.”