Indoor Pickleball & Padel Facility Conversions: Energy Challenges in Repurposed Retail & Warehouse Spaces

Turning vacant big-box and industrial space into profitable racquet clubs—without letting utilities erode the business model.

The trend is real (and it’saccelerating)

Indoor racquet sports facilities are showing up in places we didn’t expect a few years ago—vacant big-box retail, former anchor stores, and underutilized warehouse space. It’s a natural match: large footprints, high ceilings, parking, and faster tenant improvement timelines. But there’s an important reality that many first-time owners don’t fully model early enough:These buildings can become high-utility facilities—fast—unless lighting and HVAC are designed around how clubs actually operate. Energywise Solutions built this issue to help developers, owners, operators, and CFOs validate the opportunity,understand the energy cost drivers, and design systems that protect margins from Day 1.

Market proof: Why everyone is looking at indoor courts

Pickleball participation is exploding

Pickleball reached 19.8 million U.S. participants in 2024, up 45.8% year-over-year (SFIA).

Court and location growth is still climbing

USA Pickleball’s Annual Growth Report (updated Jan 30, 2026) notes:

• 82,613 known courts
• 14,155 new courts added in 2024
• 2,300+ new locations added in 2025, bringing the total to 18,258 locations

Adaptive reuse is now part of the real estate playbook

Vacant malls and big-boxretail are being converted into indoor pickleball facilities as acommercial real estate reuse strategy.

Padel is scaling quickly in the U.S.

A “State of Padel” market snapshot reported 688 padel courts across 180 facilities (Q22025), with 50%+ installedsince January 2024.

The “Heat Map” Reality—location can change the financial outcome

Not every market carries the same energy risk. If you’re converting big-box retail orwarehouse space into an indoor pickleball or padel facility, the same building andoperating plan can produce very different utility outcomes depending on where you are.

In regions where commercial electricity prices are highest, the “margin penalty” from poorzoning, constant full-output lighting, or inefficient HVAC sequences shows up faster—andhurts more.

What this means in plain terms: If your facility is in a high-cost electricity area, you don’thave the luxury of “figuring it out later.” You need energy-smart functional design up front,especially for the two biggest loads: lighting and HVAC.

Where this matters most: High commercial-rate markets frequently include Hawaii,California, and parts of the Northeast (commercial rates vary by month, but these regionsregularly rank among the highest).

Practical takeaway: Design and controls should scale with your local energy cost

In higher-rate markets, the ROI on planning-first strategies is often stronger:

Lighting controls that match revenue zones

• Court-bank zoning and scene control (open play vs league vs tournaments vscleaning)
• Dimming where appropriate
• Scheduling that avoids “everything at 100% all day”

HVAC zoning + sequences designed for occupancy swings

• Don’t condition the entire footprint as one zone
• Stage equipment to avoid big simultaneous ramp-up
• Set points and ventilation strategies that support comfort without constant overrides

Demand awareness to prevent “one peak sets the month” (or even capacity charges for the entire year) effects

• Align pre-cool / pre-heat strategies with occupancy spikes
• Avoid HVAC + lighting spikes stacking at peak windows

Bottom line: In most states, the cost of getting this wrong shows up quickly. In lower-rate states, these strategies still matter—but in higher-rate areas, they often become non-negotiable for protecting margins.

The two cost drivers that matter most—especially in high-rate markets

1) Demand (and capacity) charges (the “one 15-minute mistake” problem)

Many commercial utility tariffs include demand charges based on thehighest average loadduring a short interval (often 15 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes) within the billing month.

Why it matters for clubs: If lighting and HVAC ramp together at peak occupancy, a single short spike can set the demand component for the month—creating “surprise bills” even when total kWh seems reasonable.

2) Operating schedules that don’t match revenue schedules

If courts, lounges, and circulation areas operate at “tournament mode” lighting andconditioning all day, the facility may look great—but utilities can eat margin in monthswhen court utilization is softer.

Common challenges club owners have faced (and what causes them)

This isn’t about fear—it’s about avoiding predictableissues that show up after opening.Here’s a list of comments from some of my clients recently:

• “Our utility bills are higher than expected.” Often caused by: over sized or poorly zoned HVAC, lack of ventilation strategy, and lighting operating at full output regardless of court usage.
• “We’re comfortable in some areas, miserable in others.” Often caused by: poor supply/return placement, stratification in high-bay spaces, and insufficient dehumidification strategy.
• “We keep overriding settings to keep members happy.” Often caused by: controls that aren’t configured for real operations (peaks, events, cleaning, warm-up, partial occupancy). Overrides become permanent.
• “The lease was cheap… but the building is expensive.” Often caused by: selecting a shell without evaluating rate structure, electrical capacity, envelope leakage, and mechanical feasibility.

The planning-first approach: Evaluate early, design smart, protect margins

Here’s the front-end framework Energywise Solutions uses to help teams de-risk these projects:

Step 1: Rate + demand review before equipment decisions

• Identify whether the site has demand charges and how they’re measured (15 vs 30min)
• Map building peak windows against planned programming (league nights /weekend tournaments)

Step 2: Functional zoning (design around how clubs operate)

• Create zones that reflect revenue areas (court banks, lounge, pro shop, warm-up,event space)
• Avoid conditioning and lighting the entire footprint at peak intensity all day

Step 3: Lighting designed for performance + cost control

Design strategy to include:

• Court-by-court (or court-bank) switching and dimming
• Scheduled scenes (open play / league / tournament / cleaning)
• Occupancy-based control for support spaces
• Glare control and uniformity planning to improve play experience

Step 4: HVAC designed for occupancy swings (not just square footage)

• Right-size equipment to real load profiles
• Address ventilation and humidity early (especially for long operating hours)
• Use sequences that prevent simultaneous spikes (staging, setbacks, pre-cooling strategies)

Step 5: Commissioning that validates the operating model

• HVAC staging and set points respond correctly to occupancy peaks
• Staff can run the building without constant overrides

A simple underwriting reminder for CFOs and investor groups

A conversion that looks profitable on rent and TI can under perform if utility costs weren’t modeled. Energy is a controllable operating expense—if it’s designed that way. Without front-end planning, it becomes a variable cost that can be financially harming.

How Energywise Solutions helps

Energywise Solutions supports developers, operators, and owners with:

• Front-end utility risk evaluation(rate structure + demand exposure)
• Lighting performance + controls design(play-ability + operating cost)
• HVAC functional design guidance(zoning, sequences, comfort outcomes)
• Operational control strategy to reduce overrides and demand spikes

Evaluate Your Site

If you’re evaluating a warehouse or big-box shell for indoor pickleball or padel, we canhelp you answer these questionsbeforethe project locks in costly decisions:

• What will utilities likely look like in peak months?
• Where are demand-charge risks hiding?
• What lighting + HVAC strategies reduce operating cost without compromising player experience?
• What should be specified now so the building runs efficiently for years?

Reply “EVALUATE” and we’ll schedule a consult and share a pre-design checklist your teamcan use during site selection and early TI planning.