A nationwide post-pandemic fitness trend is also a real estate trend in New Jersey, as indoor pickleball facilities fill available spaces throughout the state.
For example, the Jersey Pickleball Club is opening its first facility in 13,800 square feet at Bell Works in Holmdel, while the Pickleball Kingdom franchise debuted a 41,000-square-foot location in Hamilton. The Ace Pickleball Club franchise will occupy 27,000 square feet at Brunswick Shopping Center in North Brunswick, with Sportime Pickleball unveiling locations of 50,000 and 30,000 square feet in Wayne and Englewood, respectively.
“There’s a lot of people with money and passion for pickleball,” said Scott Schubiger, chief growth officer of The Picklr, which was eyeing a mid-March opening for its new seven-court, 22,500-square-foot location at a shopping center in the Manahawkin section of Stafford.
Pickleball — a mix of tennis, table tennis and badminton that draws players across age groups and athletic ability — is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, with the number of players nearly doubling in 2022, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. That popularity has sparked demand for pickleball facilities around the country.
Developers say pickleball fits in locations from retail to light industrial because courts can operate in a variety of spaces, depending on the type of facility and what it offers. Some only have courts, while others offer food and beverages and other amenities like member lounges, which might drive a higher rent. Indoor facilities enable people to play year-round.
But pickleball seemed like a gamble in 2020, when NAI DiLeo-Bram & Co. arranged an 11,200-square-foot lease in an industrial building at 19 Royal Road in Flemington for the newly formed Flemington Pickleball Club. Marc Shein, a senior vice president with NAIDB, said the firm agreed to handle one of the first such facilities in the area because the building was zoned for recreation and already air-conditioned and heated.
Source: https://re-nj.com/pickleball-users-snapping-up-retail-industrial-space-as-sports-craze-spreads-in-new-jersey/