Listen to this articleA newly minted recreation business is the first tenant at a recently developed warehouse and distribution building in Medford.
Pickleball Heaven leased 55,709 square feet at Wildflower Ltd.’s 129,242-square-foot building on 10 acres at 645 National Blvd., where it will soon open a unique complex catering to players of the fast-growing sport.
The brainchild of Long Island entrepreneurs Don Rickey and Anthony Adler, Pickleball Heaven is not your run-of-the-mill sporting facility. The Medford complex will feature 18 pickleball courts, with each court having its own private lounge and dedicated 90-foot video monitor, on which the players can watch the action and even see instant replay of their drop shots and volleys.
The new Medford pickleball venue will also include a 2,500-square-foot pro shop and player lockers. In addition, Pickleball Heaven will sport a 60-foot bar with a full kitchen, as well as an 18-foot food truck onsite. The food-and-beverage concessions will be run by Long Island-based hospitality firm Never 86, led by Chris Quirke, who also owns and operates the Wok N’ Roll and New York Panini eateries in Huntington.
“We’re trying to have it be one of the first pickleball venues that is less intimidating and more of a social environment,” said Rickey, who also owns a smart-home integration company that provides audio and video, lighting and security systems for residential and commercial properties.
Pickleball Heaven will also offer an academy run by accomplished player and coach Ricky Mango, which Rickey describes as a “training and certification program.”
While Manhattan-based Wildflower designed its $34 million Medford project as a warehouse and distribution facility, complete with 36-foot-clear ceilings, 50-foot column spacing, 24 loading docks and four drive-in bays, the developer is pleased to welcome a recreational tenant to the property.
“We love fitness and sports at Wildflower, so we are thrilled that Pickleball Heaven is opening at Medford,” Adam Gordon, Wildflower’s managing partner, told LIBN. “We hope that other athletic oriented facilities will choose to collocate at the project.”
Meanwhile, Rickey has ambitious plans to expand the Pickleball Heaven concept well beyond the initial Medford location.
“We’re looking in Nassau County, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and in other states, including Connecticut and New Jersey and possibly in Chicago,” he said.
The Pickleball Heaven in Medford is expected to open this fall. More information can be found on the company’s website at thepickleballheaven.com.
Mark Pawlitschek of Compass Commercial represented Pickleball Heaven, while Frank Frizalone and John Giannuzzi of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, Wildflower Ltd., in the Medford lease transaction.