Multimillion-dollar pickleball facility headed to Pinellas Park
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 26, 2023

The Pickleball Club will be bringing a 40,000-square-foot indoor pickleball facility to Pinellas Park.

The group, founded in 2019, develops and manages private membership-based pickleball facilities throughout the state. Its first facility opens soon in Sarasota near Lakewood Ranch and includes 12 indoor courts.

The Pickleball Club announced it would be opening its next two facilities in Pinellas Park and Venice. The Pinellas Park location is just over 8 acres in the Gateway Centre Business Park. The company said it is under contract to buy the site for $1.7 million.

The sale is expected to be complete in December, with an opening scheduled for early 2025.

The facility will include 16 indoor pickleball courts, an outside activity area, a players’ lounge mezzanine, Dink’s Pro Shop and Pickle’s Café.

“Our goal is to be the leading social club focused on pickleball in Florida, followed by an expansion throughout America,” Brian McCarthy, founder and CEO of The Pickleball Club, said in a release. “Our concept will give members an upscale country club atmosphere to play and socialize year-round, no matter what the weather is like outside.”

The group purchased a 5.5-acre parcel in Venice for $2.8 million, according to the company. That facility is at the intersection of Crestview Boulevard and Jacaranda Boulevard. It will also be 40,000 square feet and have 14 indoor pickleball courts and an outdoor activity area with two outdoor pickleball courts and two bocce ball courts.

It will also include a 3,700-square-foot players’ lounge mezzanine that overlooks the courts and the Pickle’s Café and Dink’s Pro Shop. The club is expected to open in July 2024.

Other locations under development include Port St. Lucie, which is under construction, Bonita Springs, Forty Myers and the Villages.

The Pickleball Club’s strategy is to “take advantage of the significant unmet demand for a quality indoor sports experience dedicated to pickleball,” according to a release. Each club is designed to be between 34,000 and 50,000 square feet.

“The Pickleball Club is far and away the market leader in the development of indoor club facilities in the United States,” Matt Gordon, co-founder of The Pickleball Club, said in a release. “We have more courts under development and more capital investment than anyone. Pickleball is the sport of the people, and we are proud that we have more than 100 individual equity investors who have joined us on this amazing journey.”