Fairgrounds partners with QuadReal to launch Canadian pickleball and padel clubs with two locations
Fairgrounds Public Racket Club has partnered with QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal) to meet Canada’s rapidly rising demand for pickleball and padel, two of the world’s fastest growing sports.
The initiative will begin with two new club locations, starting with Cloverdale Mall in Etobicoke opening February 16th with nine pickleball courts. Assembly Park in Vaughan opens later this month, proud to be the country’s first mixed use pickleball and padel facility, leading the way in combining two of the most popular sports globally.
Fairgrounds democratizes racket sports by removing the exclusive membership and initiation fees of more traditional clubs. Each public location allows people of all ages and levels to play at an hourly rate with free membership, making pickleball and padel inclusive and available to the entire community. Beyond the courts, the Fairgrounds facilities will include a bar and restaurant with branded merchandise available for purchase.
QuadReal, a global real estate management, investment and development company, worked with Fairgrounds to create an immersive, community-focused environment in each location that complements existing community amenities and programming. The partnership also helps revitalize and re-imagine spaces using sustainable development practices, while incorporating the latest technology to enhance the visitor experience, blending physical and digital elements.
“This partnership couldn’t have come at a better time and really benefits everyone,” says Fairgrounds co-founder Drummond Munro. “By working with QuadReal, we’re revitalizing unused spaces to become community-building destinations, like Cloverdale and Assembly Park. The whole idea is to make pickleball and padel more accessible to more people and keep up with the growing demand across the country. QuadReal is helping make that a reality.”
“At QuadReal, we are committed to building communities where people want to live, work, shop and grow,” says Aaron Knight, Senior Vice President of Development and lead on the Cloverdale Mall redevelopment project. “By establishing community focused partnerships, we can provide unique experiences at our buildings and enhance the ways members of the community engage with and connect in our spaces. We are thrilled to be supporting the incredibly popular sports of pickleball and padel alongside Fairgrounds at both Cloverdale Mall and Assembly Park.”
Fairgrounds will host a free-to-play weekend at Cloverdale on February 17th-19th with activations, coaches’ corner, and the Fairgrounds resident DJ. Signups will be open to reserve your sport on the court on Tuesday, February 6th, at https://www.visitfairgrounds.com/.
ABOUT PICKLEBALL
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in North America, with a 40 percent growth rate between 2019 and 2022. Easy to learn and play, the sport is popular across all generations and has a rapidly growing fanbase amongst Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Boomers who flock to pickleball courts for the community-oriented experiences, physical activity and friendly competition.
ABOUT PADEL
Padel is the fastest growing racket sport in the world, with more than 25 million people playing in over 90 countries. Invented in Mexico in 1969, and described as a mixture of squash and tennis, the sport has trended in Spain and Argentina for decades. It shares the same scoring system as tennis but is played on a court about a third the size, with the four enclosing walls helping keep the ball in play. Players (two-on-two) use perforated, hard-plastic paddles and a tennis-like ball that’s smaller in size.
ABOUT FAIRGROUNDS
Fairgrounds is redefining racket and social clubs in Canada through a network of democratic facilities located across the country. By taking a community-first approach, Fairgrounds is engaging players of all levels, ages and abilities through free-play and drop-in opportunities, in-person events, social networking and retail spaces offering equipment, apparel and lifestyle items. Fairgrounds was founded in 2022 by a team of Canada’s top forward-thinking entrepreneurs that includes Matt Rubinoff, founder of Stackt Market and Drummond Munro, co-founder of Superette.
See visitfairgrounds.com for other future Fairgrounds locations.
About QuadReal Property Group
QuadReal Property Group is a global real estate investment, operating and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its assets under management are $73.8 billion. From its foundation in Canada as a full-service real estate operating company, QuadReal has expanded its capabilities to invest in equity and debt in both the public and private markets. QuadReal invests directly, via programmatic partnerships and through operating companies in which it holds an ownership interest.
QuadReal seeks to deliver strong investment returns while creating sustainable environments that bring value to the people and communities it serves. Now and for generations to come.
QuadReal: Excellence lives here.
For QuadReal Related Media Inquiries:
Hannah Wanlin
QuadReal Property Group
hannah.wanlin@quadreal.com
416-881-5129
For Fairgrounds Related Media Inquiries:
Sarah Lindenberg
All My Friends Agency
sarah@allmyfriendsagency.com
647-200-1820