There is a growing trend in which youth sports complex facilities are becoming coveted anchor spaces for new retail mixed-use development projects. This is an especially compelling concept for more outlying areas in the South and the Midwest that do not already have a major traffic draw. The concept also works well as a complementary building close to an already established professional sports venue and near other entertainment-based concepts, such as miniature golf.
For every practice, game or tournament, team players and their families congregate at a sports facility and will then gravitate to the nearby entertainment, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, drug stores or specialty boutique shops. The majority of these sports facility developments also have apartments, condos, hotels and even office spaces within the plans. Look for youth sports facilities to anchor upcoming mixed-use developments such as Bluhawk in Overland Park, Kan., The District at Liberty Park in Memphis, Tenn., and Paragon Star in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Bluhawk
The 277-acre Bluhawk development in Overland Park — one of the fastest growing and wealthiest suburbs of Kansas City — broke ground for the first phase of an indoor sports complex, at 240,000 s.f., that will be called the AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk. Once the second phase is completed by late 2024, the sports complex will expand to become 435,000 s.f. in size. The building will cater to youth and amateur sports teams, both competitive and recreational, and can accommodate national tournaments, as well as other events, such as expos or conventions. The first phase will include four basketball courts that can be converted into eight pickleball or volleyball courts, as well as an ice rink for both youth and adult hockey leagues, in addition to public skating sessions. Plus, there will be 4,000 spectator seats, as well as a fitness center, locker rooms, a grab-n-go eatery and a family fun center featuring laser tag, 16 bowling lanes, miniature golf and an arcade. Phase two will include the addition of four more basketball courts and another ice rink, as well as an indoor turf field that can be used for football, soccer, baseball, rugby, lacrosse and futsal. There will also be eight batting cages and eight pitching lanes. Price Brothers Management Co. is handling the Bluhawk development project.
Additional development plans of the Bluhawk project will include 675,000 s.f. of retail, which will incorporate entertainment, such as a movie theater, fast-casual and fine-dining restaurants, apparel, beauty services, a food hall, a book store, and specialty boutiques featuring local brands and higher end retailers, such as toy shops and footwear stores. Notable tenants that have already signed on include ULTA Beauty, Sierra, Rack Room Shoes, Shake Shack, Cookie Co., Nekter, Swig, Mo’Bettahs and The Crack Shack. These tenants will supplement retail that is already open, including T.J. Maxx, Tropical Smoothie Café, Panera Bread, Three Dog Bakery, Great Clips, Mathnasium, Whataburger and MassageLuXe. Future developments will also include an apartment complex, multiple hotels, and up to 80,000 s.f. of office space, including medical services.
The District at Liberty Park
In the Midtown neighborhood of Memphis, which is experiencing a rise in its residential population, Turner Construction completed a 227,000-s.f. youth sports complex, called the Memphis Sports and Events Center (MSEC), in December. It will complement the area’s second phase of construction, a mixed-use project called The District at Liberty Park, which will be built by Capstone Development and is set for completion in 2025.
As for the sports complex, it features 16 basketball courts that can also be reconfigured into 32 volleyball courts, and the space provides enough seating for 3,500 spectators. The adaptable space can also accommodate other sporting activities including gymnastics, futsal, wrestling and cheerleading.
The District at Liberty Park is anticipated to have 100,000 s.f. of retail/dining, and an additional 90,000 s.f. of family entertainment. High 5 Entertainment, the Texas-based family entertainment center brand with two locations in the greater Austin area, is expected to open a facility up to 65,000 s.f. in The District at Liberty Park, offering features such as bowling, laser tag, axe throwing, a virtual reality experience, an arcade, a ropes course, miniature golf and a restaurant/bar. At least one additional entertainment-based tenant is also being sought after, such as an e-sports brand, as well as restaurants and specialty retailers. In addition, the mixed-use plan calls for up to two hotels and up to 200 apartments, which may expand to 400 apartments in the future.
Paragon Star
In April, the Paragon Star Sports Complex opened in Lee’s Summit, a suburb within the Kansas City metro. It consists of 10 soccer fields, and upcoming plans will include areas for sand volleyball courts, pickleball, a ropes course, a climbing wall and a dog park. The complex will be used for local and regional youth soccer tournaments, in addition to other sports.
The youth sports complex is part of a larger 190-acre mixed-use project to be developed by Spectrum Strategies LLC, which is also working with Fogel-Anderson Construction, Co. The next phase, which will be called “The Village at Paragon Star,” will include 90,000 s.f. of retail tenants, as well as 90,000 s.f. of Class A office, including medical tenants and up to 400 luxury apartment/condo units along with a 200-room hotel. Construction of this new phase broke ground in January, which will begin with a 70,000-s.f. two story building that will have street level space for boutique retail and restaurants, and upstairs space for office tenants. The building is expected to be completed by late 2023/early 2024. The ground-floor restaurants will include outdoor patios that face the development’s open-air plaza, which will contain a video screen that airs the sporting game events. Other upcoming tenants could include a movie theater, a grocery store and additional entertainment-oriented brands.
