Under LOI - Acquiring an indoor Pickleball business
April 30, 2026
by a searcher from Columbia University - Columbia Business School in Princeton, NJ, USA
Hi, currently under LOI on a 30,000+ sq ft climate-controlled indoor pickleball facility here in New Jersey with 13 courts, grand opened for a full year. Here are the key deal terms:
📋 The Deal:
• $1.2M buildout cost, Revenue $1.1M, Net income $150,000
• Lease: $400,000/year (~$13.33/sqft)
• Purchase option of real estate: $275/sqft (~$8.25M at 30K sqft)
• 13 pickleball courts, fully climate controlled
• Located in New Jersey
We're working through our underwriting now and want to gut-check a few things with people who've been in the space:
❓ Questions for the community:
1. For those who operate or have evaluated indoor pickleball facilities — does $400K/year on 30K+ sqft feel reasonable for NJ, or are we leaving room on the table in negotiations?
2. At $275/sqft, is the purchase option worth exercising down the road, or would you stay a tenant and deploy that capital into operations/marketing?
3. What's a realistic court utilization rate to underwrite in year 1 vs. year 3 for a market like New Jersey?
4. Any operators here who can share what ancillary revenue streams (memberships, lessons, leagues, F&B, pro shop) have moved the needle most?
5. Biggest surprises or landmines we should pressure-test before we sign?
We believe in the market — pickleball demand in the Northeast is real — but we want to make sure we're not missing something. Would genuinely appreciate perspectives from operators, investors, or anyone who's been through a similar deal. Thank you!
from Cornell University in Los Angeles, CA, USA
from Dartmouth College in Princeton, NJ, USA