Through an estimated $1 million renovation process, an abandoned warehouse is steadily transforming into a neighborhood hub for exercise and socialization
When Parma resident Robert Euerle acquired an empty factory/warehouse 18 months ago on Crossburn Avenue in Cleveland, he had no intention of converting the building into a pickleball center. The bland exterior and messy interior didn’t exactly inspire it.
Saplings were sprouting in one room. What seemed like thousands of tires littered the nearly 2-acre site, inside and out.
“One side of the building had vines all over the outside,” Euerle said. “People had dumped concrete, dirt, junk and steel. The biggest obstacle to renovation was just creating a workable area.”
Despite the massive clutter, Euerle plans to open the Cleveland Pickleball Center in June inside the 35,000-square-foot building in Cleveland’s Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood. The center will have 10 pickleball courts and host tournaments and corporate events. Players will also be able to sign up for memberships.
“I’m trying to make it a destination like Gordon Square and Tremont,” Euerle said. “I want this to be the spark of the neighborhood that enhances the area and draws people in.”
Euerle received a $100,000 economic assistance grant in February from the city of Cleveland to help finance the estimated $1 million building renovation. The money comes from the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds. The city also loaned Euerle an additional $50,000 for the project.
Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy helped Euerle come up with the pickleball idea and advocated for the center.
“This is the first facility of its kind in Cleveland and will be a great addition to the city,” Kazy said. “We have a developer who has taken a building that has been vacant more than 25 years, rehabbing it and investing $1 million.”
Euerle is creating the pickleball center through Euerle Group LLC, a real estate development firm he launched in 2014. The company was an outgrowth of his first business venture, Greenscape USA, a landscaping, concrete and snow removal business established in 2007.
“The fun part is that Greenscape USA is doing the construction,” Euerle said. “We do concrete work, everything but mechanical, electrical and plumbing, which we will subcontract.”
Euerle has hired Payto Architects in Cleveland to design the center.
The pickleball center is Euerle’s first project in Cleveland. Previously, he renovated a vacant warehouse on Hauserman Road in Parma into Overlook Venue, an events center.
Euerle bought the Crossburn property in October 2022 for $75,000 from Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., whose mission is to return abandoned properties to productive use. The building, at the end of a residential street, was previously occupied by Polykote Corp., a maker of industrial coatings.
Initially, Euerle thought he would spruce up the building and restore it for manufacturing or warehousing uses. He contacted Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development for possible financial assistance. The department referred him to Kazy, and that’s when the project vision began to change.
“We had a number of conversations about what they wanted to do with the building,” Kazy said. “We agreed on one thing; whatever went in there, we wanted it to be a destination spot for the neighborhood.”
Meanwhile, Euerle’s pickleball-playing friends suggested a pickleball center. The idea made sense – pickleball isn’t a seasonal sport, so people would use the building all year round. Also, there were no pickleball courts in the area.
“Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the nation,” Kazy said. “It’s also a sport where no matter if you’re 8 or 80, you can play, so it’s not limited to any age group or athletic ability.”
Pickleball is similar to tennis but less physically demanding. Pickleball courts are smaller than tennis courts, so there’s less ground to cover. Pickleballs are made of perforated plastic and have less bounce than tennis balls.
The paddles in pickleball are solid, unlike stringed tennis rackets that can send balls longer distances. Pickleball is a slower game than tennis and is often played in doubles, which makes it less strenuous for individual players.
Pickleball’s popularity, as Kazy mentioned, does seem to be growing. USA Pickleball reports that its membership this year grew by 15 percent from 2023 and now totals more than 78,700.
With that kind of growth, Cleveland Pickleball Center can potentially create that neighborhood spark for which Euerle is hoping. A June opening seems ambitious, though. Euerle’s team began cleaning the Crossburn property in November and still had plenty of work ahead five months later.
The good news is that the building’s structure is solid. Euerle has no plans to change the blueprint, and the existing walls will remain.
Euerle also has no plans to sell the building once the center opens, although he will hire staff to run the day-to-day operations.
“We want to see thousands of people come to the center, work out and socialize at the same time,” Euerle said.
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