Former Hofbräuhaus restaurant in downtown St. Pete to become indoor golf simulator lounge
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 27, 2023

An indoor golf simulator lounge is coming to the former Hofbräuhaus restaurant in downtown St. Petersburg.

Brandon-based GolfSuites Inc. has leased the approximately 17,000-square-foot building, which sits on about half an acre at 123 Fourth St. S. According to GolfSuites, the lease includes options for up to 20 years of occupancy. The GolfSuites City Club venue is expected to open in mid-2024.

Christine Walker of Realty One Group Sunshine in St. Petersburg managed the transaction. The architect and design team is the Clearwater-based Robert P. Resch III-Architect firm.

The new concept will act as a “partially membership-based” indoor golf simulator lounge with dining options, simulator technology, eight separate simulator lounges and up to 300 indoor and outdoor seats for dining and beverage options.

A membership office will be located near the site.

Kevin Harrington, a local investor known for appearing on ABC TV’s “Shark Tank,” joined the company as a board director. He will also be the brand ambassador for the GolfSuites City Club brand nationwide.

The company operates three traditional golf driving range facilities in Tulsa, Baton Rouge and Lubbock. It just broke ground on another driving range facility near Auburn University and owns property in Madison, Mississippi, where it “provisionally plans to build a more casual indoor golf simulator venue.”

The goal, according to GolfSuites, is to have three unique venue options:

GolfSuites – outdoor driving range entertainment facilities.

GolfSuites City Club – upper-scale, partially membership-based indoor golf simulator lounges offering higher-end dining planned for urban centers around the U.S.

GolfSuites Lounge – a more casual indoor golf simulator lounge concept planned for suburban areas around the U.S.

The Hofbräuhaus German restaurant building sold in December 2021 to a group tied to the owner of Washington, D.C.-based Wiseguy Pizza franchise. The building and adjacent parking lot sold for $7.1 million.

In 2014, Joe Matuschka, owner of Hofbräuhaus Chicago, purchased the site from the Tampa Bay Times. The restaurant opened in 2015 and quickly developed a loyal following, at times attracting three-hour wait times on the weekends. It has changed hands multiple times since Mutaschka and was also involved in a lawsuit after a tenant failed to pay rent.