Michael Lightman knows Topgolf Memphis is poised for success, and he has a lot of interest around the new entertainment venue near Tenn. 385 and Germantown Road South.

Lightman, founder and president of Michael Lightman Realty, owns Centennial Commons and Centennial Place, shopping centers on Polo Grounds and Winchester, respectively. Both are within a half-mile radius of the golf venue under construction. 

He believes the impact of Topgolf will spread far beyond its location on the east side of Germantown Road, south of the Germantown city limits.

Topgolf finally confirms it’s headed to Memphis

“We feel Topgolf will be very beneficial to everyone in the area,” Lightman said. “It gives you a nice recreational place to go. It’s very different from anything in Memphis. They really know what they are doing, and they run a wonderful operation.”

The curved row of steel beams seen along Germantown Road just north of Winchester indicate the future hitting bays. Construction on the site continues daily.

Some have questioned Topgolf’s choice of location, but Lightman believes the Taylor family’s old polo fields are a prime spot, providing easy access from many directions of the Memphis metro area. Lightman points out the site is just south of the Germantown border, just west of Collierville and adjacent to Tenn. 385, making it an easy drive from anywhere in Shelby County or northern Mississippi.

The topography of the site also was a benefit.

“They needed a piece of property that lends itself to a driving range. That property was just perfect,” he said, noting it was fairly flat. “I had a property in Collierville I showed them, but it didn’t have the population and demographics they were looking for, and it didn’t have the accessibility.”

Road improvements planned near Topgolf site

Topgolf is drawn to a younger audience, those who will go out and eat taking advantage of Topgolf’s large menu in addition to its games.

Those who access Topgolf from Winchester will pass Lightman’s shops. Although reservations aren’t required for hitting bays, guests might run into a wait time and venture into Dick’s Sporting Goods, Popshelf or Marshalls. Centennial Commons also has one of the area’s three remaining JCPenney stores.

With the excitement of Topgolf, Lightman is ready to move forward with the ninth phase of Fieldstone Apartment Homes, less than a mile east. The existing 1,399 units comprise the largest Class A garden apartments in Tennessee. The ninth and final phase will add 232 luxury apartments on Tournament Drive in what he’ll call The Park at Fieldstone. The location is just west of PathAI Diagnostics, formerly Poplar Healthcare. Topgolf’s announcement accelerated the plans for the completion of the Fieldstone development.

The entertainment venue is part of Polo Grounds North, a mixed-use development of nearly 150 acres, including acreage both east and west of Germantown Road. GBT Realty has conceptual drawings of various housing types immediately east of Topgolf with a mix of multifamily and single-family residential components — 531 dwellings on Callis-Cutoff Road, east of Germantown Road.

The new apartments Lightman plans sit to the east of Polo Grounds North. He wants to focus on The Park, but if the timing and conditions are right when GBT moves forward with its residential components, he could be interested in partnering.

Topgolf site sells, construction scheduled to begin

Bailey Wiener, which represented Franklin Land Associates and GBT Realty in the Topgolf deal, noted there are also two out parcels — a 1.3-acre tract and a 1.4-acre site — planned between Topgolf’s driving range and Germantown Road.

“It’s going to be unlike anything Memphis has seen,” Lightman said of the Topgolf. “I think it’s going to draw a 100-mile radius. The closest one is in Nashville, and that does quite well.”