Posted: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:41 AM - 15,019 Readers
By: Tiffany Young
Lakeway-area residents Jeffrey Spillar, Chris Lupton and Josh McKay have teamed up to develop a two-story, 86,000-square-foot Hill Country Indoor Complex on approximately 8 acres.
“We’re all entrepreneurs. We started this with our passion for sports and youth—then our business senses kicked in,” McKay said.
The new facility—being constructed by AKA Builders Owner Robert Albanese, who served as director of design and construction for The Austonian—is located in between The New Backyard in Bee Cave and the proposed CVS/Pharmacy along the under-construction portion of Bee Cave Parkway. Bee Cave Parkway Phase 3 began construction Sept. 6 and is under contract with Ranger Excavating to be finished by September 2012. Across the street from the complex, the Ladera Ranch subdivision concept plan includes 259 new single-family homes.
“We all three live in the area, and two out of three of us have kids in sports. There’s a huge demand for court space, field space [in Bee Cave],” McKay said. “Even on a community basis there’s a need, and when you get to the select [teams], there’s nothing. When you have a drought like we just had, it’s even worse, because if the field use is [high], it kills everything.”
The partners said they could start construction on the facility as early as January.
The complex will consist of three components: league play on fields and courts downstairs; fitness memberships in the health and exercise area upstairs; and about 10,000 square feet of retail space, available for rent, at the front of the building.
“I call it a one-stop shop for family and friends,” McKay said.
Leagues
The partners said leagues will be built around the Lake Travis Youth Association, a nonprofit that provides league play to area children, so that there will not be a conflict between schedules. The LTYA’s Field of Dreams is just across Hwy. 71 from the planned Hill Country Indoor.
Along with league play, parents who want their children to have more training in a particular sport can obtain it from in-house specialists.
“We’ve been able to partner with individuals that specialize in their own sport, and these are individuals who live and breathe [the sport],” McKay said.
Former Tampa Bay Rays baseball player Scott Leon of Positive Baseball Development, a baseball training facility in Lakeway, is joining Hill Country Indoor as an associate. He’s been training youth in Lakeway since 1999.
Luke Axtell of Luke’s Hoops will also be bringing his business within Hill Country Indoor. Axtell played basketball for the University of Texas and professional basketball in Russia. He now coaches elementary- to high school–aged youth in Central Texas.
Memberships
Those interested in memberships will be able to pick and choose from different options, such as classes, an exercise room, training and sports therapy.
“Another perk to the lounge upstairs is a parent could come in, sit down and access Wi-Fi or get on the treadmill and still see their kid below practicing or playing,” Lupton said. “One thing we’ve heard from parents is you have to drive to Cedar Park, a 30- to 40-minute drive for an hour-long practice ,and then they have to wait in the car or go across the street for coffee, whereas here, everyone can be together.”
Retail
The retail space will likely be filled with sports- and health-related merchandise, though no agreements have been signed yet.
“We’re in negotiations. We’ve handpicked the ones that will be a perfect fit. We want something that is an absolute match for what we’re doing,” Spillar said.
For more information, visit
www.hillcountryindoor.com.
