Council approves Bat Box SUP for indoor batting simulators and restaurant with late‑night weekend hours

The Addison City Council approved a special use permit on April 8 allowing Bat Box to occupy Suite 612 at 5100 Beltline Road as an indoor baseball‑simulation entertainment business with an on‑site restaurant and sale of alcoholic beverages for on‑premises consumption.

Staff (Corey Beck, assistant director of development services) said the proposed roughly 13,000‑square‑foot tenant would install 10 batting simulators and a bar serving the suite, with about 198 seats inside and site façade updates. Beck noted the site generally meets parking requirements but identified one accessible parking space that lacked an ADA ramp and landscaping that needs replacement; the tenant and property owner will reconfigure the accessible parking and add required ramps and ground cover as part of the site improvements. He said the exterior color scheme and porte‑cochère would be updated and some entrance points consolidated.

Applicant Craig Wenning, CEO of Bat Box Holdings, described the customer experience: the facility is a mix of simulated gameplay projections plus real balls deployed from the unit, and the format serves a wide age range. Wenning said leagues, tournaments and memberships are part of the business model and projected a roughly 20‑week build‑out with an opening target in late summer or early fall.

Council discussion focused on parking and accessibility improvements, the applicant’s neighborhood engagement and the business’s planned hours. A council motion approved the SUP with a condition that operations close to the public no later than 2 a.m. on weekends. The motion passed (council vote recorded in the meeting as an affirmative voice vote); specific roll‑call votes were not read aloud in the transcript.