New social-sports destination with pickleball, minigolf planned in Simsbury
Photo | David Morris via Flickr
The view from Talcott Mountain State Park, looking in the direction of the former Tower Ridge Country Club in Simsbury.
A company opening a social-sports concept in Boston and Philadelphia plans to build a similar entertainment and recreation destination in Simsbury, featuring outdoor pickleball and padel courts, along with a miniature golf course.
The Philadelphia-based company, Ballers, is backed by a group of investors that includes tennis stars Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters and Sloane Stephens.
The group, which has raised more than $15 million in equity, is proposing to redevelop part of the former Tower Ridge Country Club on Nod Road.
The project involves converting tennis courts on the property into 10 pickleball courts and building an 18-hole miniature golf course.
The pickleball courts should be finished by the end of July, and the minigolf facility in early fall, the developers said.
There will also be two or three courts for padel – a sport that combines tennis and squash, which is considered the fastest-growing racquet sport in the world.
Tower Ridge Country Club, which closed in 2019, has already been partially redeveloped. Its tenants now include an ice cream shop, nonprofit organization, a disc golf course and Talcott Mountain Collective, a tap house/beer garden and events venue that hosts live concerts.
The country club’s former clubhouse has been converted into a restaurant, The Collective Kitchen.
With the addition of pickleball, padel and minigolf, visitors will be able to break a sweat before cooling off, or vice versa.
“There should be a lot of synergies between all of these things,” said Daniel Bassichis, the primary owner of Tower Ridge and a co-founder of Ballers. “After people play pickleball, they can go listen to live music and have beers. And people (who have been) sitting there for hours listening to music, they might want to come over and rent a court.”
Kevin Casey, who co-owns the property, said the new sports-and-social venue is ideally situated at the corner of four towns – West Hartford, Avon, Bloomfield and Simsbury – on a site with mountain views.
“We wanted to redevelop the property, but with a basic underlying use of outdoor recreation, evolving from a golf course to something that has a wider demographic draw,” Casey said.
Ballers is seeking a zone change to facilitate the project. The change, which allows a “special recreational area” in certain residential zones, is nearing approval, Casey said.
Ballers expects to open its flagship location in Philadelphia, featuring pickleball, padel, golf, squash and soccer, along with an upscale bar and restaurant, in June or July.
Another location in Boston will have pickleball courts that transform into a synthetic ice rink in the winter.
Other Ballers sites are planned in major cities, the developers said. Scaled-down versions suited for suburban settings like Simsbury will launch under a new brand, JV by Ballers, said David Gutstadt, the company’s CEO and co-founder.
“Connecticut will probably be the first one, but we have a pipeline of these ready to roll out,” Gutstadt said.
The Simsbury location will be open to the public, but members will receive discounts and may be able to reserve court time further in advance.
“This is not like a private country club where you have an application process,” Gutstadt said.
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