A private indoor golf and performance club wants to open in the New England Business Center, and Needham residents will get their first chance to weigh in on July 28th, 2026.

The Hickory Club, operated by Hickory Golf Club of Needham LLC, has applied for a Major Project Site Plan Special Permit Amendment to renovate 15,315 square feet at 117 Kendrick Street. The company is registered at 1 Garden Court, Cambridge, though no named principals or operators have been publicly identified. It filed the Planning Board application after a separate special permit request to the Needham Zoning Board of Appeals was withdrawn earlier in July.

The new application goes through the Planning Board instead of the ZBA. According to the legal notice filed with the Needham Town Clerk's Office on July 2, the club would occupy one tenant space inside the existing building on the 12-acre parcel. The project requires a special permit under Section 3.2.4.2 of the Needham Zoning By-Law, which governs indoor athletic and fitness facilities in the business center district.

The Hickory Club is also seeking a waiver of strict parking requirements under Sections 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 of the by-law. The legal notice does not specify how many parking spaces would be affected or what alternative arrangements are proposed.

The New England Business Center's site plan special permit dates to November 1998 and has been amended six times, most recently on December 19, 2023. If approved, The Hickory Club would become the seventh amendment to that permit.

The Planning Board will hold the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. in the Charles River Room on the first floor of the Public Services Administration Building, 500 Dedham Avenue. Residents can also join via Zoom using Meeting ID 880 4672 5264. The full application is available at needhamma.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=146.