Just weeks after its groundbreaking, North Jersey’s first Topgolf location is rising rapidly in Parsippany.
Construction activity was brisk at the site on Route 46 east on Aug. 22 as the chain of golf and entertainment venues prepares for an opening next year. A three-story steel frame in the back of the property, not far from Route 80, appears complete, and more than a dozen tall concrete columns have been erected between the two highways.
The columns outline the driving range and will support 100-foot poles for netting to keep slices, hooks and big-bomb drives inside the range.
The three-story, 67,500-square-foot facility will feature a multitier driving range with 102 bays. Serious golfers will enjoy advanced tracking technology for their shots. Novices may prefer to engage in interactive games, suitable for all ages and skill levels, aiming for huge targets on the field.
For those who don’t care to swing, the climate-controlled bays typically include two tees, lounge seating for six and HD televisions, with available food and drink service. Elsewhere in the complex, nongolfers can enjoy a full-service restaurant and bar, a private event space, an outdoor patio and a rooftop terrace.
“We are excited to bring our family-friendly entertainment-focused venue to this town,” Todd Waldo, Topgolf’s director of real estate development, said at the June 5 groundbreaking. “We are certain that this will create a regional destination for golf entertainment in the state.”
Launched in 2000, the Dallas-based chain now operates more than 110 of its combination driving range, restaurant and entertainment sites on three continents. The Parsippany edition would be its third in New Jersey, joining Edison and Mount Laurel.
Topgolf offers “a modern golf experience where anyone — including people who have never picked up a golf club and those who want to perfect their swing — can participate in the sport in a relaxed, no-pressure environment,” says the company’s website. “You’ll take aim at giant targets on the field while playing virtual courses or Topgolf’s signature games like Angry Birds.”
The company estimates that the venue will bring 400 jobs to Parsippany.
Wave of Route 46 redevelopment
At the groundbreaking, Parsippany Mayor James Barberio touted the project as another example of economic development along the town’s bustling Route 46 corridor, where Shree Parsippany Developers LLC has already bought and repurposed several aging properties.
In addition to the Topgolf location, they include the former Colony Plaza, which was demolished to make way for a Chick-fil-A restaurant that opened last year.
Other properties now owned by Shree are the former Capital One Bank, where a Wonder food hall opened earlier this year, a Taco Bell and Outback Steakhouse, the Days Inn hotel, the former Cerbo Lumber property, additional office buildings “and many more,” said Bhagirath Maheta of Shree.
Covering 10.5 acres in a prime highway location, Topgolf is replacing several vacant properties, Barberio said. Many more office sites have been demolished in recent years in Parsippany to make way for warehouses, thousands of residential units and commercial spaces.
