(rendering via City of New Orleans)
A month after holding initial conversations with neighbors about its plans, Drive Shack confirmed its plans Thursday to replace the former Times-Picayune building with a three-story indoor-outdoor “golf entertainment” facility.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Drive Shack developers made the formal announcement of the plans in a news conference Thursday afternoon. Drive Shack’s developers had previously met to discuss their plans — which include demolishing much of the old newspaper building but saving the murals inside, and improving the streets around the site — with neighbors at a meeting in March.
(map via NOPD)
For more details, see the news release below:
Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced that Drive Shack will soon be bringing its unique golf entertainment experience to New Orleans.
Drive Shack is developing venues across the country that are reimagining the traditional concept of a golf course through blended, industry-leading technology, design and service that creates a golf-entertainment experience for every skill level and interest. New Orleans will be Drive Shack’s seventh location in the nation highlighting our city’s competitiveness and its confidence in the our market.
Drive Shack will construct a new, three-story golf-entertainment complex at the site of the former Times-Picayune production facility located at 3800 Howard Ave., adjacement to U.S. Interstate-10. The 60,000-square-foot complex is slated to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2018. This exciting new economic development project will create over 350 new jobs in New Orleans and attract further investment in the city.
As part of this project, Drive Shack has committed to utilizing the City’s job readiness pipeline program HireNOLA and utilize DBE certified firms in addition to establishing formal partnerships with local colleges, universities and business organizations, ensuring the hires it will make draw from the area’s diverse talent pool.
“New Orleans is known worldwide as an entertainment destination, and we are thrilled that Drive Shack has chosen to come here,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “This golf-themed complex will provide our residents and visitors a whole new entertainment experience. Drive Shack will not only create hundreds of new jobs, but also attract even more investment for our city. Right next to I-10, Drive Shack is sure to catch a driver’s eye and become a new fan favorite for everyone.”
Once completed, the three-story, indoor/outdoor all-weather golf-entertainment complex will have 90 climate-controlled hitting bays, a Free Play Game Lounge with classic games like shuffleboard, skee-ball and Pac-Man, a full-service restaurant and bar, an outdoor lounge, and several fully equipped meeting and event rooms. Each hitting bay will feature complimentary custom TaylorMade clubs with unlimited golf balls, dual flat screens with TV on-demand, interactive games enabling guests to compete with other bays, and full-service on-call food and drinks from the restaurant.
“Drive Shack’s economic impact is a welcomed investment in New Orleans,” said Mayor-Elect LaToya Cantrell. “The new three-story complex is taking a parcel that has lain vacant ever since Times Picayune left and is spurring redevelopment of an entire corridor that is just a stone’s throw from the Superdome. Golfing is one of America’s favorite sporting activities, so we look forward to having a facility of this size and scope just minutes from downtown New Orleans.”
Additional Drive Shack locations are on the way in Raleigh, N.C., Richmond, Va., West Palm Beach, Fla., and Marietta, Ga. For more information, visit www.driveshack.com.
