River District lawsuit accuses Five O Fore Golf group of trying to derail rival Topgolf project

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Residents packed into Felicity Church in the Lower Garden District on Tuesday (Jan. 30) for another contentious meeting with developers of the River District, who earlier in the day filed a lawsuit accusing the rival Five O Fore Golf group of trying to derail their planned Topgolf facility through unfair trade practices.

River District Neighborhood Investors, LLC (or RDNI) is the consortium handling the development of the approximately 50 acres of vacant riverfront land near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. RDNI also intends to be Topgolf’s landlord.

The lawsuit alleges Five O Fore Golf and its investors orchestrated a scheme to undermine RDNI and the development of Topgolf by having an associate mislead state officials at the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) about the proposed realignment of Melpomene Street.

RDNI plans to realign Melpomene where it connects to Tchoupitoulas Street to allow for Topgolf’s driving range to have more space. The realignment has yet to be approved by the city.

According to the lawsuit, the associate misled DOTD officials by submitting outdated Topgolf renderings for review, soliciting feedback, and providing that feedback to the city, even though he was not associated with the project.

“The parties named in this petition, and others to follow, conspired to coordinate a series of attacks and create a hostile public environment towards the project by financially supporting public discourse and other legal activities,” the RDNI said in a statement. “This is not how business is conducted and we will seek full remedies for the damage caused.”

An RDNI representative declined to comment further at Tuesday’s meeting.

In a response statement issued Wednesday, Five O Fore Golf partner Alex Xiao denied wrongdoing by the group.

“Five O Fore Golf has not engaged in any unfair or deceptive trade practices and categorically denies any wrongdoing or involvement in such activities,” the statement said. “At no point did Five O Fore Golf or any of our associates ever represented itself as a representative of RDNI or Topgolf. Additionally, any documents obtained were obtained through the appropriate channels in accordance with laws governing public records requests in Louisiana.

“Furthermore, it is imperative to clarify that there is nothing illegal about a concerned citizen inquiring about the steps involved in the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) or any other governmental process. It is the right and responsibility of every citizen to seek information and participate in civic matters. Once all the facts are presented, it will become evident that Five O Fore Golf is not culpable of the allegations made by RDNI.”

Both Topgolf and Five O Fore, when finished, will be extremely similar concepts within miles of each other in New Orleans.

Topgolf representatives seemed confident in their timeline and ability to move forward with heavy construction, which has not yet begun on the site at Tchoupitoulas and Euterpe.

“We actually have all of our construction permits and we are moving forward with all of our development process after several months, including tonight, of community engagement,” said Kara Barry, vice president of communications for the company.

“Right now, we’re working on bringing 400 good-paying jobs, paying $30 million in taxes to the City of New Orleans over the next 10 years, and we also are bringing our unique style of play, making the game of golf more accessible.”

Barry declined to comment on the suit and said the matter would best be handled by RDNI.

City Councilwoman Lesli Harris, whose district includes the River District, said she’s supportive of the Topgolf project and other avenues to develop the area surrounding the convention center.

“Part of the revenue that Topgolf, and other retailers within the River District neighborhood, will have an additional two pennies’ tax on top of the taxes the city will collect,” Harris said.

“There’s a lot of information about a tax break Topgolf is getting. Topgolf is not getting any tax break, They will be paying their taxes, and part of the taxes they will pay will go to support affordable housing within the River District development.”

Harris said RDNI will be contractually obligated to build 900 housing units and 450 of them will have to be classified as affordable. The affordable construction would be partially subsidized by the revenues generated by retailers like Topgolf.

Still, nearby residents were adamant that an entertainment facility the size of Topgolf simply was not a good fit for the historic nature of the Lower Garden District neighborhood.

“This kind of subterfuge is really destructive to a city like New Orleans,” one man said. “It’s destructive to a city anywhere in the United States.”

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