Knoxville City Council on Tuesday (March 19, 2024) gave its go-ahead to a nine-year tax incentive requested by Mayor Indya Kincannon that will allow Knox OnCore to invest more than $30 million and transform an abandoned North Knoxville industrial site into a golf-themed family entertainment amenity.
The 40,000-square-foot ShotClub Social entertainment center will include about 60 golf driving bays, a 36-hole miniature golf course, a restaurant, an arcade and duckpin bowling.
The facility would be built over about 10 acres east of Interstate 275 and north of West Fifth Avenue, adjacent to Second Creek. The redevelopment project will include a cleanup of the contaminated and long-vacant PSC Metals site.
Reactivating the dormant site will create 200 to 250 full- and part-time jobs, the owners have said.
"There were some skeptics when the City invested $5.5 million to overhaul an underdeveloped commercial corridor here a few years back," Mayor Kincannon said. "Much of the area improved through the I-275 Business Park Access Improvements Project was blighted, empty or inaccessible. People wondered: Would private investment follow the City’s lead?
"The answer is yes! This is a great example of what local government alone can do: We can strategically invest in key public infrastructure and set the table for collaborative public-private investment and job creation. "
"We are collaborating with the developers, KCDC, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and the state Department of Environment and Conservation to bring this blighted property back to life," Justice said.
"By addressing and fulfilling numerous key development priorities for the city with the project – activation of a blighted property, environmental remediation of a brownfield site, job creation, community-serving programming, and investment along a corridor – ShotClub Social is a win for this redevelopment area."