PGA Of America To Move Headquarters To Frisco
Frisco City Council members unanimously voted to welcome the PGA to their city shortly after 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
This groundbreaking agreement is estimated to have an economic impact of more than $2.5 billion over the next 20 years based on a city-commissioned tourism feasibility study. The study considered the economics of golf course activities, including tournaments, plus the additional impact from the new conference center.
The golf courses are expected to open in summer 2022. The hotel, convention center, and other facilities are expected to open within six months of that date. The development will host the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in 2023.
The PGA of America is teaming with Omni Stillwater Woods (OSW), a joint venture led by Omni Hotels & Resorts with Stillwater Capital and Woods Capital; the City of Frisco, as well as its Economic and Community Development Corporations; and the Frisco Independent School District.
“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 as we bring together world-class partners in a world-class location – to deliver innovative and differentiated experiences for our nearly 29,000 PGA Golf Professionals, golfers of all abilities and our staff.”
Governor Greg Abbott tweeted the news saying, “@PGA has announced the relocation of their headquarters to Texas, bringing $30 million in capital investment and 100 new jobs to the Lone Star State.
The PGA of America is the major organizing body of professional golf.
The project relocates PGA headquarters from its longtime home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to North Texas.
The partnership involves the Professional Golfers Association, The City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and Omni Hotels for a golf resort, among others.
According to Gold Digest, the $500 million deal is expected to include a 100,000 square-foot headquarters, two 18-hole championship-caliber courses and a nine-hole practice course.
Frisco has become an attractive destination for sports in the last several years and is already home to Dallas Cowboys football at The Star, FC Dallas soccer and RoughRidersbaseball.
Paul Goering, a golf pro at The Trails of Frisco Golf Club, thinks the PGA has a place in the area as well. “It’s great for the city. It’s great for the area. It’s great for golf. Dallas hasn’t had a PGA or national championship here since 1963,” he said. “I’ve heard they’re trying to have a lot of national championships here — with a couple PGAs [tournaments], some Senior Tour stuff and a few LPGA events.”
Since the 1960s, the PGA has called Florida home, but the organization has been looking for a new location for its headquarters for more than a year.
Talks with Frisco have been ongoing for months.
The entire project will have an initial, estimated public-private investment totaling more than $520 million. The PGA of America will invest $30 million to build its 100,000-square-foot global headquarters and education facility. OSW will invest $455 million to purchase the land, construct the hotel, conference center, retail space, parking facilities, and golf courses. The golf courses, clubhouse, practice areas and associated public facilities will be owned by the city. More than 300 FISD high school golfers will practice at the facility on a weekly basis.
The agreement calls for the City of Frisco and its development corporations (each funded by a half-cent of Frisco’s sales tax) and FISD to contribute no more than $35 million toward development of the public facilities (City of Frisco, $13.3 million; Frisco Economic Development Corp. (FEDC), $2.5 million; Frisco Community Development Corp. (FCDC), $13.3 million; and FISD, $5.8 million).
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.
FEDC is also investing $14.3 million over a 15-year period for the PGA of America’s headquarters relocation, job creation and PGA tournament incentives.