The PGA of America is moving its headquarters to Frisco, Texas, where it will anchor a 600-acre, mixed-use development with investment expected to exceed $520 million. The public-private development will feature two championship golf courses that will host two PGA Championships, two KPMG Women’s PGA Championships and potentially a Ryder Cup. It will also host the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2023. The golf courses are expected to open in summer 2022.
“Our move to Frisco will be transcendent for the PGA of America,” said Seth Waugh, CEO, PGA of America. “Everything great starts with a dream. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey…”
The PGA of America, which has 29,000 members, will employ at least 100 people at the new headquarters, which will be located 30 miles north of Dallas. It will move from its long-term home in Palm Beach County, Florida. The PGA’s Northern Texas Section will also move to PGA Frisco. The development will also include a short course, and practice areas totaling 45 holes, where the Northern Texas section can usestate of the art connectivity to provide opportunities to pilot promising growth-of-the-game programming for all 41 Sections of the PGA of America.
The development will include a 500-room hotel and 127,000-square-foot conference center, which will be owned and managed by Omni Hotels & Resorts. Other amenities will include Class AA office space, a retail village, and parks and open space, including several miles of trails. The hotel, convention center, and other facilities are expected to open within six months of the golf courses.
The PGA is teaming with Omni Hotels & Resorts, Stillwater Capital, Woods Capital and the City of Frisco in a joint venture to develop the project. The joint venture will invest $455 million to purchase the land, construct the hotel, conference center, retail space, parking facilities, and golf courses. The city will own the golf course, clubhouse, practice areas and associated public facilities.
The 600 acres are primarily situated within 2,500 acres being master planned by Hunt Realty Investments on the north end of Frisco.
“Hunt Realty and its partners are committed to creating a world-class, mixed-use planned community with the 2,500-acre Fields development, and we are proud to have facilitated the land sale for the new premier Omni Hotel, PGA of America headquarters and championship golf,” said Chris Kleinert, President of Hunt Realty Investments.
The initial 25-year agreement calls for the land and conference center to be publicly owned by the City of Frisco and operated by the joint venture, which will pay $100,000 a year in rent to the city. That lease will increase two percent after the fifth year of the development agreement.
The PGA of America will invest $30 million to build its 100,000-square-foot global headquarters and education facility.
The agreement calls for the City of Frisco, the local school board and its development corporations to contribute no more than $35 million toward development of the public facilities. The City of Frisco will also provide performance incentives, which include a portion of hotel occupancy, mixed beverage, sales and property taxes generated by the hotel and associated retail on the site for a 20-year-period. These performance incentives are estimated to total between $52 million and $74 million.
Additionally, the State of Texas will contribute all the hotel and sales tax, along with a portion of mixed beverage tax collected on the project for 10 years. The state grant total, provided through Chapter 351 incentives, is valued at more than $62.5 million over 10 years.
A economic impact study estimates the development will generate more than $2.5 billion over the next 20 years. The study considered the economics of golf course activities, including tournaments, plus the additional impact from the new conference center.