The councillors of Waverley Borough, in the British county of Surrey, have approved plans for the conversion of a vacant, 57,600-square-foot warehouse into Europe’s largest club for pickleball and padel, according to The Padel Paper.
The HOPP, as the club will be called, was conceived by Sally Grace and Andre Strachan, victors this past August in 45+ mixed doubles at the English Open Pickleball Championships, in Telford. Strachan also runs the South East Pickleball League, founded in 2022.
The conversion will cost about £2.5 million (€3.0m) and yield ten courts for pickleball and four for padel, all indoors, along with a club shop, 176 parking spaces for cars and 18 spaces for bicycles. There will also be coaching available. Opening day should come in the middle of next year.
