The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 42 - October 17, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds..........................10
Community Briefs...............3
Crossword/Sudoku...........10
Entertainment....................11
Legals.................................8,9
Letters...................................3
Obituaries.............................2
Real Estate..................5-7,12
Sports.................................4,8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Sunny
74˚/59˚
Saturday
Sunny
74˚/63˚
Sunday
Sunny
79˚/63˚
2019 ESHS Homecoming Court
Bottom Row: Freshman Princess Emily Anderson, Sophomore Princess Skylar Allen, Senior Princess Delaney Jones, Junior Princess Sierra Ahrablou. Top Row: Freshman Prince Connor Logan, Sophomore
Prince Ludvig Bergsaker, King Wadia Alhalak, Queen Ella Tichy, Senior Prince Reynaldo Silva III, Junior Prince Marquis Wright. Photo By Ralf’s Photography
TopGolf Gets Council’s Approval
By Brian Simon
After seven years of back and forth
discussion, TopGolf is now on track to come
to town. By a 4-1 vote (with Don Brann
dissenting), the El Segundo City Council
on Tuesday night recertified the project’s
environmental impact report and approved
the general plan amendment, lot line adjustment
and conditional use permit. The group
also authorized City Manager Scott Mitnick
to execute a site parking deal with West
Basin Municipal Water District, move forward
with a ground lease agreement with
lessee ES CenterCal, LLC (CenterCal)
for a TopGolf operation at The Lakes at
El Segundo, and enter into a management
agreement for TopGolf to operate the ninehole
course. The Council also amended the
agreement with current Lakes management
group Lane Donovan Partners to implement
a 45-day termination clause. Still left is a
second reading and adoption on Nov. 5 of
an ordinance approving the zone change,
specific plan, site plan review and zone
text amendment.
The Council last addressed TopGolf publicly
in the fall of 2018. After reviewing
proposals from nine different companies for
potential operations and uses at The Lakes,
the group opted to negotiate exclusively with
TopGolf. Council members Scot Nicol and
Chris Pimentel hammered out the details
with CenterCal/Top Golf over the past year
and eventually arrived at a package both
parties found satisfactory. The revised deal
far exceeds the financial and benefits provisions
outlined in a previous offer years back.
“This is a very good deal in front of you,”
Mitnick told the Council, while also noting
that industry consultants he conferred with
confirmed that assessment.
The City estimates the project will generate
over $1.9 million in annual revenue to
the general and golf course enterprise funds
and in the process finally reverse the need
to subsidize operations at The Lakes. The
breakdown includes a $1.3 million annual
driving range lease (with a 10 percent adjustment
every five years), $200,000 community
benefit contribution, $200,000 capital reserve,
a $20,000 ground lease payment for the golf
course (with 10 percent adjustment every five
years) and payout to the City of 3 percent
of gross beverage sales at both the driving
range and golf course (with a guarantee of
$200,000 minimum).
CenterCal and TopGolf also committed to
make $40 million in site capital improvements,
including night lighting. CenterCal additionally
agreed to cover the full costs of the first
1,000 hours of El Segundo public safety
personnel deployed at TopGolf (expected
during busy weekends). The City will split
those costs beyond the 1,000 hours.
One clause obligates the City to share in
project losses should the facility be in the
red $150,000 or more in three of the first
seven years. “The odds of that happening are
probably pretty darn slim,” Mitnick opined.
Other project benefits listed include improved
aesthetics; and increased revenues
from property, sales, utility user and business
license taxes. Mitnick also spoke of a multiplier
effect on the local economy, as he reported
that business owners in town told him they
are excited about how their companies can
use this new amenity. TopGolf also indicated
it will create over 500 new jobs.
In the area of golf programs and public access,
the existing golf course manual provided
the guidelines, Mitnick emphasized. The
offerings will include youth instructional
programming; golf course year-round and
summer junior golf programs, clinics and
tournaments; and driving range availability
for youth instruction programming.
School-sponsored programs will have
access to the driving range from 9 to 5
Monday through Thursday at no cost, with
separate first floor entry so as not to intermingle
with upstairs restaurant and TopGolf
game activities. El Segundo Unified School
District will have priority on school-related
program requests, with fees based on prevailing
junior rates.
Traditional local users of the driving
range will have access Monday to Friday
from 6 a.m. to noon and on weekends
from 6-9 a.m. with a cost of $10 for a
bucket of 45 balls. El Segundo residents
will receive a 10 percent discount daily from
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Project Specifics
TopGolf plans to build a three-story,
55-foot-high recreation facility at the site
of the current driving range at The Lakes.
Of the estimated 67,500 total square feet, a
little over half of that space will be devoted
to golf hitting bays with private seating areas
behind each of the 102 bays. The revamped
driving range will have artificial turf.
The facility will additionally feature approximately
10,000 square feet of restaurant
See City Council, page 11