A new pickleball facility will debut in late fall 2024 in Bridgeton, Missouri, with an impressive distinction as the country’s largest indoor facility dedicated to pickleball. For first-generation Chinese-American entrepreneurs (and husband-and-wife duo) Marshall Pan and Diana Fan, Arch Pickleball & Badminton’s new facility represents an amazing evolution that almost didn’t come to fruition.
“We started our badminton club in 2015, but by 2020, the pandemic hit, and we had to close,” says Arch Pickleball & Badminton co-founder and co-owner Marshall Pan. “We thought that was it. Then, I started playing pickleball.”
The paddle-centric sport seemed a natural fit for a badminton club. So, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pan applied for funding from St. Louis County to revive their business with a new twist: pickleball. The duo launched their reopened business inside Chesterfield Mall, which featured open space and high ceilings, and installed three pickleball courts. The reimagined facility was a hit—thanks in part to pickleball’s remarkable 223 percent growth from 2021 to 2023.
The booming business wasn’t enough to save Chesterfield Mall. After nearly 50 years, the shopping center closed in August 2024, leaving Pan and Fan again searching for a new home for their business. The entrepreneurs enlisted the real estate services firm Intelica to help them; the company soon identified the Bridgeton location at 11333 Blake Drive as the perfect fit.
“It was an old furniture store, and it was huge,” Pan says. “I thought it was too big for pickleball, but my wife asked me to take a look, and the first time I went in, I fell in love with the space. It has high ceilings, it’s spacious, and the columns are placed ideally for pickleball use.”
The Intelica team negotiated the acquisition for Pan and Fan. From the beginning, they worked closely with the city, which embraced the relocation and saw it as an integral economic driver for the destination.
“Bridgeton was hyper-focused on not having an empty building much longer,” says Intelica vice president of brokerage Brenden O’Brien. “And we showed them a path to this, bringing in a ton of people from all over.”
Planned for a grand opening in November, the facility will feature high ceilings (26-feet high in the front and 24-feet in the back), 24 pickleball courts (23 of which will be oversized), and 400 parking spaces. Other on-site amenities will include ample seating and spectator space, a pro shop for equipment and apparel, lounge areas for relaxation, and, eventually, concessions and alcoholic beverages for a complete sports experience. Intelica is also actively searching to fill a vacant space in the facility, which could potentially house a fitness center or physical therapy clinic.
“To have that much scale is a whole different ball game,” O’Brien says. “We were very excited when Marshall explained he would take it to such a big scale. His competition can’t do that. I think he’s way ahead of everyone else.”
Once open, Pan and his team anticipate the new Arch Pickleball & Badminton facility will not only host national and international pickleball tournaments but also become a hub for sports enthusiasts from around the region, country, and world. O’Brien explains this is a significant step towards solidifying Bridgeton as a destination for sports enthusiasts.
“Bridgeton is trending the right way,” O’Brien adds. “There’s a lot of things to like about it.”
