How IPOP and Aurora Are Creating Indoor Pickleball Spaces

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in Canada, but there’s a significant problem: there aren’t enough places to play. IPOP — the Inclusive Place of Pickleball — is tackling this issue by opening dedicated indoor courts. However, finding a place suitable for indoor pickleball is not as easy as you think.

In fact, it’s pretty challenging!

Enter Aurora Consultants and Perri Zimmerman, their vice president for Western Canada. Together, they are helping IPOP locate and secure prime indoor locations, transforming vacant spaces into thriving pickleball courts and ensuring the sport’s growth can continue unimpeded.

We spoke to Perri for some first-hand info on how IPOP and Aurora are tackling the unique problems of opening up indoor pickleball in Canada.

Introducing IPOP’s Partners: Aurora Consultants and Perri Zimmerman

Aurora Consultants is a leading real estate firm specializing in finding unique commercial spaces tailored to specific business needs across Canada. With extensive experience in the real estate sector and a track record of helping boutique stores grow, Aurora is a go-to partner for innovative projects.

In collaboration with IPOP, Aurora is leveraging its expertise to secure prime indoor locations for pickleball courts.

And, of course, Perri Zimmerman, vice president at Aurora Consultants and one of their aces, is now instrumental in getting IPOP up and running in indoor locations across B.C. and Canada. Her role involves scouting and evaluating potential sites that meet IPOP’s unique requirements.

Aurora Consultants is a major player in the Canadian Retail Real Estate market. It is a massive honour that Aurora heard what IPOP was doing and wanted to become its partner, and IPOP is thrilled to be moving forward with our now-shared dream together.

Why Aurora and IPOP are a Good Fit

The partnership between Aurora Consultants and IPOP is built on shared values and complementary strengths. Aurora attracts boutique clients with unique needs who aim to grow exponentially, including brands like Uniqlo, Sephora, and Muji. This expertise aligns perfectly with IPOP’s innovative approach to bringing pickleball to the masses.

“Chris (White, IPOP founder and CPO — Chief Paddle Officer!) has great energy, and pickleball is a fun and inclusive sport with a good vibe that brings together the neighbourhood. IPOP presents unique challenges for Aurora in finding appropriate spaces due to its unique space requirements. Plus, dealing with structural columns adds another layer of complexity,” says Perri (who is just picking up the game but already loves it) on why Aurora wanted to partner with IPOP.

Our organizations are committed to fostering community engagement, inclusivity, and the joy of pickleball. This partnership ensures we can effectively address Canada’s need for dedicated indoor pickleball facilities.

As we’re learning, getting pickleball indoors in Canada is tough. But despite the challenges, both teams are dedicated to learning and making it happen together.

Challenges of Finding Indoor Pickleball Facilities in Canada

The US has a different problem regarding indoor pickleball space than Canada does. In the US, malls are ghost towns with lots of space available. In Canada, our malls are still alive; they just need to be redeveloped and reshaped. Adding pickleball courts to Canadian malls is more in the realm of promoting future development rather than “saving the dead mall” (which is how the issue is framed in the US).

Instead of being “dead,” many Canadian shopping malls or mini-malls have large-space vacancies because big box stores like Toys R Us and Bed Bath & Beyond (stores with lots of open square footage) went under. These stores were the “anchors” of shopping malls and strip malls, leaving massive empty spaces vacant for years.

Why Can’t Canadian Mall Landlords Fill Those Vacancies?

Businesses capable of filling those spaces want long-term leases (13-15 years). This leaves Canadian landlords challenged because, due to our housing crisis, they’re being told to build condos or low-cost housing instead of finding long-term renters. It’s all about adding density.

In the US, housing and limited space are minor issues; there is no housing crisis and many empty malls. Canada doesn’t have empty malls. We have large vacant spaces needing temporary solutions until condos can be built.

Perri says, “The main issue in finding space is that the Canadian Retail Real Estate market is extremely competitive, with few opportunities. Add the column placement sensitivity, and the opportunities are even fewer.” 

What Is Aurora and IPOP’s Solution?

Once Perri and Aurora find a suitable location, IPOP works with the landlord to provide a temporary, pop-up pickleball facility for the space they can’t fill. “IPOP’s model is unique, being able to squeeze into fitness, retail, grocery, or sports amenities, perfectly aligning with the ample space available in malls,” says Perri.

Check out an exclusive look at a rendering of IPOP’s concept:

IPOP provides a viable pickleball business for 3-7 years while building permits for condos, re-zoning, etc., occur. That way, people can play indoor pickleball through IPOP, and landlords receive an additional revenue stream. Plus, the malls get increased foot traffic that will increase revenue, especially in non-mall hours, like 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. It’s a win-win-win!

And what is the best part about the IPOP model? Those temporary solutions can become permanent in the future.  

During pre-sale, potential condo purchasers can now use IPOP as a selling feature with a complementary booking to learn to play pickleball and experience life at the new development. Now, this “pickleball showroom” has become an asset that helps to sell condos. 

As developers see pickleball thriving and realize people want to play, it becomes a built-in amenity inside the new condo tower. Now, you don’t just have a residential building; you have a lifestyle community! IPOP transitions from a temporary pop-up to a condo tower selling feature and eventually to a permanent location at the base of a new condo tower.

Conclusion

At IPOP, we’re in the problem-solving business as much as we are in the pickleball business, and this is how we solve the problem of the lack of indoor pickleball facilities in Canada. IPOP, in partnership with Aurora Consultants, is not only revitalizing empty retail spaces but also playing a crucial role in future urban development.

By turning vacant mall spaces into vibrant pickleball courts, they offer a temporary solution with the potential for long-term benefits. This innovative approach helps developers market new condo projects and ensures pickleball becomes a permanent amenity for new communities.