Pickleball Boom in Austin: New Facilities Planned

It’s your Monday morning coffee talk with Salma Manzur, and today's topic is something that has taken Austin by storm: Pickleball courts!

The question on everyone's mind is: Do we have enough pickleball courts? The answer, according to a major developer, is absolutely not!

The Pickleball Court Explosion

A new Utah-based group has announced huge plans to capitalize on Austin’s love for the game. This group is slated to open a massive five new locations here in the Austin area.

This is not a long-term distant dream, either. The timeline is aggressive: they are looking to open these five new locations within the next 18 to 24 months, with two facilities already well underway.

The Investment is Massive

To give you an idea of the scale of this investment, let's look at the two locations currently under construction in the Round Rock area:

• Size: These facilities will range from 2,500 square feet up to a colossal 40,000 square feet of space.
• Cost: The finish-out costs alone—just the construction and renovation work—are ranging between $450,000 and $600,000 per location.

This staggering number is simply the cost to transform large commercial spaces, like an old Walmart, into state-of-the-art pickleball courts. This figure does not even include the rent, the triple net, or any other operational costs.

This huge commercial real estate investment confirms that there is massive, untapped demand for the sport in Austin.

I have a feeling that Austin pickleball memberships are going up! For your Monday morning coffee, do you paddle?