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SAN DIEGO — The plan to bring the popular sports entertainment brand Topgolf to San Diego has cleared another hurdle.

The Port of San Diego has voted to advance the Topgolf proposal for East Harbor Island to the environmental review phase, Port officials announced Wednesday.

In July, Topgolf entered into exclusive negotiations with the Port of San Diego to bring one of their high-tech driving ranges to San Diego, with plans calling for a 68,000-square-foot building on an 8.5-acre site with 102 hitting bays, as well as a restaurant and a bar.

“The East Harbor Island area is currently underutilized and has immense potential for enhanced recreation and visitor-serving amenities. If ultimately approved and built, Topgolf would add to the wide variety of things to see, do, and experience on our San Diego Bay waterfront,” said a quote attributed to Port Chairman Dan Malcolm.

The earliest construction could begin is 2025, but it would likely begin later than that, Port officials said.

“The environmental review will be performed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), then a CEQA document will be drafted and publicly reviewed,” said a news release from the Port of San Diego.

Then the project will need to go through various other board approvals, real estate negotiations and a variety of other permit and schedule processes before construction can begin.

In November, Topgolf announced plans for a second location in San Diego in the Sorrento Valley area. The planned range would feature three levels and over 80 hitting bays in an effort to to redevelop the Carroll Canyon Golf Center.

Topgolf has not provided any public updates on the proposed Sorrento Valley location.