Pittsburgh’s Strip District — known for its international grocers, self-driving cars and black-and-gold everything — may soon have a new claim to fame: high-tech indoor mini-golf.
Puttery, which hasn’t set an opening date, will be occupying 19,000 square feet of space on two floors of The Vision on Fifteenth. Currently under construction at 15th and Smallman streets, the eight-story, mixed-use building is expected to open this summer.
Don’t expect windmills and weirdly colored streams. Instead, Puttery will feature three separate nine-hole courses with digital scorecards, along with several lounge areas serving cocktails and a full food menu. Puttery’s website and Instagram page clearly put a priority on creating a nightclub-type vibe.
Puttery’s parent company, Dallas-based Drive Shack, is perhaps best known for its augmented reality driving ranges. There are currently Puttery locations in Dallas and Charlotte, and at least six are being developed across the country. Professional golfer Rory McIlroy is an investor in the venture.
A mini-golf course is an unusual amenity for what is primarily an office building. Clearly, it’s expected to help The Vision on Fifteenth tee up some new tenants.
“The modern workforce demands a new, experiential workplace loaded with amenities and entertainment options,” says Jim Scalo, president and CEO of Burns Scalo Real Estate, the building’s developer. “Adding a dynamic entertainment venue like Puttery to the office component of The Vision on Fifteenth is an unrivaled amenity for anything currently in the market. It’s a game-changer.”
To be fair, a few blocks away in the redeveloped Strip District Terminal, Puttshack is opening next winter, devoting 23,500 square feet of space to four indoor high-tech mini-golf courses of its own. Locally-owned OnPar Now — which features simulators of world-famous golf courses — is celebrating its one-year anniversary in the Terminal this weekend.
The Vision on Fifteenth has 275,000 square feet of space to fill. Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, a steel and specialty materials company, announced in August that it will move its headquarters from PPG Place to The Vision.
Pittsburgh is already great for mini-golf fans. (See NEXTpittsburgh’s list of the 9 best mini-golf courses in the Pittburgh region — the outdoor, low-tech variety).
“Pittsburgh is nationally known for its energetic sports culture, so it was only a matter of time before we brought Puttery to the City of Champions,” says Hana Khouri, Drive Shack’s president and CEO.