In 2020, P360 Performance Sports purchased the site of the former Rapids on the Reservoir for their new headquarters and, although little has moved on the project, co-owner Tommy Johnson said they still have every intention of building it.
P360 Performance Sports is a baseball and softball training facility with numerous teams in the headquarters in Jackson and locations in Hattiesburg, Auburn, Pearl and Gulf Coast. The Jackson teams spend a lot of time traveling throughout Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana. The new location at the reservoir could be the answer to hosting teams at home.
Johnson said they began looking for a new location when their current property in Jackson went under contract after being on the market. They found the former Rapids location that sits on 27 acres where they could build a new building and fields.
“Jackson is uniquely positioned – we are about equal distance between Atlanta and Dallas and equal distance between Memphis and New Orleans,” Johnson said. “We spend so much time traveling to these places, but we are right in the middle. We think this will be a good destination for high quality travel teams to come to one place, and everybody is traveling about the same distance.”
The seven fields at this location will be high school sized but adjustable for smaller kids.
It has been some time since the plan for this location has been announced, however, there are several things that have contributed to that. One is that the three acres at the front of the property are too close to the road to be used for fields because of flying baseballs. So, Johnson said they wanted to sell this land, but it had to be the right fit.
“We put it up for sale for retail,” Johnson said. “We had some other ideas proposed to us, like condos, but we wanted something that enhances the property.”
While it has not yet been announced what those three acres will become, Johnson said they have accepted an offer and plan to close within the next three months.
The biggest cause of the delay has been the cost of material. As the cost of materials has risen, the estimated cost of the project has more than tripled.
“I’m sure you probably shop for anything and it is just hard to find and, on this bigger scale, it’s even more difficult,” Johnson said. “The good news is it’s starting to get a little easier – I hate to say it – as the economy goes further into a recession. We think the cost is starting to correct itself a bit. So, hopefully next year, we get some more things moving.”
The whole team plans to regroup in mid-December to assess everything and see if it is time to start the building. From that point, Johnson’s guess is the project will take eight to 10 months.
“That isn’t nailed down though,” Johnson said. “I think the first thing we need to do is finish up the three acre sale, then go back to our investors and see if it makes sense to do now. We still intend to build it. We still intend to utilize it. We will just keep pushing along with it.”
