Topgolf International Inc. will need to wait about a month to see whether its request to change its economic development agreement with Bernalillo County gets approved.
Commissioners on Tuesday chose to defer their decision until March 11, giving them more time to study and gather information about the company’s compliance with the original agreement.
Marcos Gonzales, the county’s executive development officer, said the company asked in 2022 to revise the agreement, and the parties have been negotiating the terms ever since. He said the company was stymied by the pandemic and a national business model restructuring.
Commission Chair Eric Olivas was critical of the timing of the request. He said other developers and business owners have complied with their agreements and Olivas asked why changes to the Topgolf deal are in front of commissioners years after the fact.
“I’m just not really clear that that’s a really equitable direction to go in,” Olivas said. “My feeling is, we really need to understand what the terms of the original agreement were, and what would be required of the county, or what would be required of the entity, before we proceed.”
Tyler Sommers, real estate counsel for Topgolf, told commissioners there are more than 165 employees at the Albuquerque location now, with 85 working full time.
Commissioner Barbara Baca said she wasn’t ready to support the amendment and suggested deferring the decision so staff and company representatives can provide wage and other information.
The original 2018 agreement called for Topgolf to create 132 full-time jobs and 200 positions in total, with a $250,000 payout upon reaching those targets.
County staff recommended approval of the revised agreement, which would require the county to pay Topgolf $168,670, provided the company maintains 167 or more jobs at its Albuquerque location for five years, with at least 89 of those positions being full time.
Gonzales said the county hasn’t made any payments to Topgolf and is still holding the $250,000 in a special fund tied to the agreement.