Case study: Pickleball Kingdom, Athens area, Georgia

Quick answer: Pickleball Kingdom’s Athens location is a 45,000-square-foot indoor facility with 16 climate-controlled courts, including two championship courts, on a 3.5-acre site at Hog Mountain Road and Macon Highway in Oconee County, serving the Athens and University of Georgia market. Mack Engineering provided full civil engineering for the site: feasibility, the concept plan with court program and parking, grading, stormwater and detention design for a site that is mostly roof and pavement, utility design, erosion and sediment control, the Oconee County land disturbance permit and the GDOT driveway permit.

Civil engineering project overview

Pickleball Kingdom’s Athens location is a 45,000-square-foot indoor pickleball facility with 16 courts on a 3.5-acre commercial site at Hog Mountain Road and Macon Highway in Oconee County, Georgia, north of Watkinsville, developed by franchisees Dave Moran and Eric Middleton of Wreak Havoc Sports and announced in September 2024, per the franchise announcement. Mack Engineering provided full civil engineering for the site.

A purpose-built pickleball facility has a civil profile unlike retail or office. Court geometry sets the building. The noise question decides whether the site is viable. Parking turns over faster than any zoning table expects. And a 45,000-square-foot roof with its parking is nearly all impervious. This project shows how those questions were answered on a 3.5-acre commercial parcel. The rules behind them are on our recreation and sports facility site design page and in our pickleball court site design guide.

Existing conditions and due diligence

The site sits at a commercial intersection on the Oconee County side of the Athens market, with Macon Highway frontage and the Hog Mountain Road corridor’s mix of commercial and residential uses around it. A 16-court indoor facility puts a large single-story building, its parking and its truck and fire access on 3.5 acres, so the fit question was answered first.

Mack’s feasibility work on the site evaluated:

Zoning and use: whether indoor commercial recreation was permitted by right or required a special use approval in Oconee County, and the conditions the county would attach.
Noise: indoor courts resolve the 800-foot setback recommended by the model pickleball noise ordinance that stops many outdoor facilities at the hearing, which is one reason the indoor program works on a commercial corridor.
Parking demand at four to six spaces per court for 16 courts, plus accessible, staff and spectator parking for championship court events, against the Oconee County ratio for the use.
Stormwater: new impervious area from a 45,000-square-foot roof, parking and drives, and the detention footprint available on 3.5 acres.
Utilities: water and fire flow for a large single-story building, sanitary sewer, power.
Access: driveway location, sight distance and turn movements at a commercial intersection with state route frontage.

Engineering and development scope

Mack Engineering’s civil scope on the Pickleball Kingdom site:

Concept site plan with the 45,000-square-foot building, parking sized to 16 courts and event use, circulation and access.
Site grading plan for the building pad, drive and parking grades and accessible routes.
Stormwater management design under the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual: detention, water quality treatment and conveyance from the roof and parking.
Utility design and coordination for water, fire protection, sanitary sewer and storm drainage with the serving utility.
Erosion and sediment control plan and NPDES Notice of Intent for a site disturbing more than one acre.
Land disturbance permit submittal to Oconee County and responses to review comments.
GDOT driveway permit for the state route frontage and county driveway coordination.
Coordination with the architect, MEP and structural teams and the fire marshal.

Mack perspective: On an indoor pickleball facility the building is a warehouse with a different tenant, and the civil problem is a warehouse problem: a large flat pad, parking that fills by the hour rather than by the shift, and detention for a site that is nearly all roof and pavement. The indoor program also removes the noise setback that kills outdoor facilities at the hearing, which is why a 16-court club can sit on a commercial corridor where a four-court outdoor club could not.

Location: Athens and the pickleball market

The Athens market combines the University of Georgia population with a growing suburban base in Oconee County, and the Hog Mountain Road and Macon Highway intersection puts the facility on the commercial corridor between the two. The pickleball construction pipeline has shifted from converted tennis courts to purpose-built multi-court commercial facilities, and this project is one of them.

Municipal compliance

Commercial development in Oconee County must meet the county’s zoning, stormwater and development standards. Mack coordinated with the county so that:

The indoor recreation use and any conditions of approval were met on the site plan.
Parking met the required ratio, with a demand model supporting the count for 16 courts and championship court events.
Stormwater quality and quantity met the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual and the county’s stormwater ordinance.
Fire apparatus access and hydrant locations were approved by the fire marshal.

Permitting path

The project followed the sequence published in our pickleball site design guide: zoning verification, concept plan and pre-application review, construction documents, land disturbance permit review, the GDOT driveway permit, the building permit, site work and the building shell, then the inspection sequence to opening. The facility was announced in September 2024 with a 2025 opening target.

Project impact

Before: a 3.5-acre commercial parcel at a growing intersection.

After: a 45,000 square foot, 16-court indoor pickleball facility serving the Athens market.

From a civil engineering standpoint, the project highlights:

A large single-story building, its parking and its access fitted to 3.5 acres.
The noise question resolved by the indoor program rather than discovered at the hearing.
Parking designed to a demand model for 16 courts and event use rather than the zoning default.
Stormwater designed for a site that is nearly all roof and pavement.
One accountable engineer of record for the full civil package, from feasibility through the land disturbance and GDOT permits.

Planning a pickleball club or sports facility?

Call (770) 715-7295 or contact Mack Engineering. Our office is at 5745 Stables Wy A-09, Alpharetta, GA 30004, and we serve Metro Atlanta and North Georgia.