Pickleball is the latest sports craze, and soon Chicago-area players will have more opportunities to compete indoors, with amenities such as restaurants and bars at hand.
Chicago-based developer Hubbard Street Group and its joint venture partner College Park Athletic Club just began reconstructing a former furniture store at 1621 S. Randall Road in northwest suburban Algonquin into Pickle Haus, a sports complex with 12 pickleball courts. The 41,000-square-foot venue will include a restaurant and bar, along with an outdoor patio and event space.
“Pickleball is now played by people of every age, and they’re expecting facilities of a higher level,” said Jeff VanDixhorn, owner of College Park Athletic Club, which operates several suburban racquet clubs.
The partners plan between four and six new pickleball facilities across Chicagoland, tapping into the growing numbers playing the game, which resembles tennis but with smaller courts and racquets, he added. The new complexes will help curtail the region’s shortage of dedicated pickleball courts and attract even more players, including serious competitors and those just looking for a fun social activity.
A few years ago, there were only a handful of players, casually using tennis courts temporarily set up for pickleball. But today there are national rankings for pickleball players, games are televised, and many colleges and universities have introduced it as a club sport.
“This all happened in the last two to three years,” VanDixhorn said. “People are also now taking lessons and paying for instruction.”
Nearly 9 million people play pickleball in the U.S., according to a 2023 report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, nearly double the number from 2021.
“Pickleball is definitely the fastest growing sport in the U.S. right now, and it’s been the fastest growing for a number of years,” said Alex Kerman, the association’s director, business operations and research. “It’s also the number one sport that our members ask about, and we track 124 different sports and activities.”
But Chicago only has 12 dedicated pickleball courts with permanent lines and nets, although there are several dozen others where players can bring their own, according to Brandon Mackie, co-founder of Pickleheads, an online community of players.
“Chicago is one of the worst in the country when it comes to satisfying the demand for pickleball, but that will be great for real estate developers,” he said.
Graham Palmer, managing partner of Hubbard Street Group, said the company hasn’t chosen its next locations. But with so many big-box retailers closing over the past few years, the company, which in 2021 also completed the transformation of a former southwest suburban Kmart into a 140,000-square-foot shopping center called Oak Lawn Commons, may get the chance to fill up vacant stores with pickleball courts.
“We believe in adaptive reuse, and there are good opportunities due to the current climate in shopping centers,” he said.
A few years ago, pickleball was a niche sport for seniors, largely because it’s less strenuous than tennis, but the short-handled racquets and smaller courts also make it simpler to pick up and play, so it’s catching on with all age groups and will likely keep growing, according to Michael Mahoney, national racquet sports director for Midtown Athletic Clubs, which provides pickleball at its flagship location in Bucktown, as well as others around the nation.
“In racquet sports, the closer the paddle is to your hand, the less technique required, so I think it’s here to stay,” he said.
Palmer said he began playing pickleball with his daughter, and both learned quickly.
“Within five minutes, we were able to play a game,” he said. “You can’t do that with tennis.”
Bucktown’s Midtown Athletic Club will soon add more pickleball courts, Mahoney said. Other efforts to expand access are also underway. Later this summer, Sure Shot Pickleball will open 11 courts in a 27,000-square-foot facility at 2244 Corporate Lane in Naperville. In addition, last September the Chicago Park District promised to create 50 more pickleball courts over three years.
VanDixhorn said their pickleball complexes will also host leagues, tournaments and social gatherings, including corporate events where all employees can comfortably participate.
“Companies are looking for team-building activities to pull people together.”
