Just like the Larkin District and RiverWorks land helped with urban transformation in Buffalo industrial neighborhoods, so can ShotClub Social, along with its existing adjacent properties - the Powerhouse and former Medaille University sports complex, says its project leaders.
Together, the $30 million golfing center - which is set to begin construction later this year - along with the Powerhouse special events center and the Medaille complex should be able to attract more people to a portion of Elk Street that was once home to an oil refinery and other industrial tenants.
More importantly, it could spark other private sector-backed developments.
That’s the opinion of Buffalo businessman Jon Williams, who developed the other two facilities.
“If we can get enough pull to get a hotel built now, you kind of a sports and entertainment area right off and downtown,” Williams said.
In the development case of Elk Street, it is a classic urban planning example of the sum being greater than the individual parts.
Williams says Elk Street is catching the eyes and attention of other developers.
“It doesn't matter what the weather is, you're going to have people in that golf venue down there all the time. So then you'd have the traffic to support restaurants and bars and hotels and everything else that goes with it,” Williams said.
Doug Swift, one of the ShotClub Buffalo developers, agrees that his project, taken with Williams’s two developments, could be that spark to push other projects forward.
“Now, this is kind of the logical evolution of these sites, as you know, the heavy industrial needs begin to dry up, and other commercial ventures are starting to take their place,” Swift said.
The 45,000-square-foot ShotClub Buffalo will feature 60 driving ranges plus other amenities. Swift says he hopes to start work on the project later this year.
And, yes, others will follow, Swift predicts.
“We're very familiar with the dynamic of what you can do to change the neighborhood, and nothing about this neighborhood gives any kind of qualms or concerns about how it will be embraced,” Swift said. “Once you build it, literally, they will come.”
ShotClub Buffalo is on pace to welcome its first golfers by late summer 2026.
