Around Town

A virtual indoor golf facility aims to go full swing on Columbia Pike later this fall

A work crew inside the former LoanMax site on Columbia Pike (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

An indoor golf facility with “state of the art simulators” is set to take its swings on Columbia Pike.

Independently-owned Par Citi is opening inside of the old LoanMax building at 3102 Columbia Pike. The entertainment center and cafe will feature virtual golf simulators inside of individual bays where people can play for fun and practice, Par Citi managing partner Kristian Hara told ARLnow via email.

The golf entertainment center will be similar to Five Iron Golf in D.C., Hara said.

Like Five Iron, it will also feature a cafe that will have food and a bar serving beer and wine, with a Virginia ABC permit pending. The plan is to open this fall, “most likely November 1st,” Hara said.

When ARLnow went to the building earlier this month, construction appeared to be well underway, though the big yellow LoanMax sign remained on the building.

While the location may strike some as a bit of an odd place to put an indoor virtual golf business, between a gas station and a county-owned office building, the Pike is about to get a bit of a facelift.

Just down the street, the new Westmont development, featuring 250 apartments with ground-level retail, is also underway. It’s set to be completed in 2024. A few blocks away will be “The Elliott,” a new mixed-use development that’s set to have hundreds of apartments as well as more retail. The aim is for it to be completed in 2024 also.

Prior to LoanMax, 3102 Columbia Pike was home to Columbia Furniture. The family-owned furniture and appliance store previously served as something of a community-gathering place, where the owner would keep the store open late to allow folks to come to watch sports on Friday nights.