An Indianapolis company plans to bring a new golf-based entertainment venue to northeast Fort Wayne.
Back 9 Golf and Entertainment officials announced Wednesday their intent to build a new facility in Fort Wayne.
Back 9, founded by Riverfront Sports LLC, is an entertainment company that sees itself as a competitor to national brand Top Golf, which has a location in Fishers. Both have multiple levels of driving range bays and sell food and drinks.
Phil Vorndran, Back 9’s president of sales and marketing, said the Fort Wayne location will be similar to the company’s flagship property in Indianapolis. Officials have not said or provided how much it will cost to build the new Back 9.
“We have 75 (bays) in Indianapolis,” Vorndran said. “We’re looking at something right around that same size. Three stories, just like them.”
Back 9 is the first commercial anchor to sign on with the Villages of Arneo, a mixed-use development off North Clinton Street near the Interstate 69/469 interchange. Its goal is to create a “vibrant and dynamic environment for residents and visitors to enjoy,” a news release said.
James Khan, president of Arneo Residential Investments, said that Back 9 building within walking distance of the villages is “exactly what (the project) is supposed to attract.” The Villages of Arneo has been described as an investment of more than $150 million that is expected to have 240 apartments, 60 villas or townhomes and 80,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
“I think that’s a fabric of the Villages of Arneo,” Khan said. “We designed the entire neighborhood around things that are going to drive people out of their home and connect. So, having a big commercial tenant that is 100% in line with that was crucial for us.”
Khan said his team has changed its plans to make sure there was room for Back 9, including putting negotiations on hold with two partners.
Vorndran said Back 9 officials have been in talks with the city government about turning this development into a private-public partnership with the city possibly investing money.
“The city’s been really supportive of getting this done,” he said. “We’ve been in a lot of talks to make this a very intimate relationship with each other.”
Vondran said he does not know if the city will contribute funding for the project.
City Council President Russ Jehl, R-2nd, said he would not support the city investing in the development. He feels “deceived” by the Villages of Arneo because their rezoning application for the property was supposed to be for low-intensity mixed-use development.
“It should be of great concern to every developer in the community to watch someone come in, rezone a mixed-use development under a neighborhood center zoning and then immediately bait and switch it to intense commercial usage,” Jehl said.
That kind of redirection would make future developments more difficult, Jehl said.
“Neighborhoods will point to this and be concerned about these kinds of bait and switches,” Jehl said.
Jehl lives in the Pine Valley neighborhood, which is adjacent to the property where Back 9 is planning to build. He and his neighborhood board are worried about the stadium lighting that would shine toward the neighborhood at night.
Jehl has visited the Indianapolis location, and the stadium lights lit up the night sky, he said.
“I have no problem with Arneo developing their property,” Jehl said. “It definitely crosses the line when you go from developing your property to dominating the sky.”
He said Back 9’s Indianapolis location on Drover Street south of downtown is where it is for that reason.
“Indianapolis puts them in highly intensive commercial areas,” Jehl said. “Specifically, Back 9 is located against the river on one side, (Eli) Lilly’s factory on the second side, Lilly’s corporate offices that obviously aren’t open past 5 (p.m.) on the third side and the fourth side is a hazmat cleanup.”
Vorndran said the goal is to encourage the community to connect by having a large social area close to their homes. Greater Fort Wayne’s Allen County Together plan and Visit Fort Wayne’s 10-year Tourism Master Plan identified a need for more entertainment options in the community as a key part of their respective strategies, the release said.
Vorndran hopes to break ground on Back 9’s Fort Wayne location this summer and open next summer.