Pickleball players will reportedly have to pay a $1,000 initiation fee at a new indoor facility coming to The Villages.
The Pickleball Club, LLC is aggressively planning indoor pickleball facilities in Florida, with the first expected to be completed in mid-January at Lakewood Ranch near Sarasota.
The company has entered into a purchase agreement on a 4.69-acre parcel at 11750 NE 62nd Terrace, which is located near the Hampton Inn on County Road 466, across from Laurel Manor Recreation Center.
The complex will feature 16 courts inside a 40,773-square-foot building.
The property where the pickleball facility will be built is not located within The Villages and most likely will not be golf cart accessible. However, the property is completely encircled by The Villages.
While pricing details for the indoor pickleball facility in The Villages have yet to be released, it has been reported that the Lakewood Ranch pickleball club will have a $1,000 initiation fee for those who want to get in early. The initiation fee will rise to $1,500 once the facility opens. The monthly membership will be $100.
The Pickleball Club is acquiring sites and plans to build at least 15 indoor private pickleball clubs throughout Florida, to the tune of about $180 million.
All of the facilities will be virtually identical in terms of layout, design and offering. The Pickleball Club has indicated it will invest $1 million in technology at each location, including real-time video clinics and platforms for reservations, rankings and pairings.
“With major sports stars like LeBron James, Tom Brady and others getting in on the pickleball craze that is sweeping the nation, we know the time is now to be the market leader during this all-important land-grab phase of the industry to secure indoor space,” said Matt Gordon, co-founder and CFO of The Pickleball Club.
