OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – A vast pickleball complex will be built at Oklahoma City’s Northpark Mall, continuing the recreational sport’s growing popularity across the state.
Shoppes at Northpark, familiarly known as Northpark Mall and located at 12100 N. May Ave., is popular for its elegant clothing boutiques, home decorative stores and art galleries. The mall will soon become a destination for pickleball enthusiasts.
Restauranteur Matt Glenn is planning to build Northpark Pickleball, a 12-court pickleball complex featuring a Roman-style pizza restaurant and bar that will provide Oklahomans a destination for recreation and socializing.
“Northpark Mall has long been a landmark in North Oklahoma City, and we’re excited to bring new life to this space with Northpark Pickleball. This venue is more than just a place to play pickleball—it’s a social hub where people can gather, compete, and enjoy great food and drinks in a welcoming environment,” Glenn said in a news release. “The North OKC community is vibrant and diverse, and we saw an opportunity to create a destination that brings people together in a way that’s both active and engaging. Whether you’re here for a casual game, a competitive match, or just to enjoy the atmosphere, we’re building something special that will serve as a true gathering place for this part of the city.”
Construction is already underway on Northpark Pickleball, which will be 41,600 square feet in size and located in the spaces that AMC Classic Northpark 7 movie theater and BC Clark Jewelers previously occupied. It will feature the following:
- Six indoor and six outdoor competition-grade pickleball courts;
- Food offerings, including sandwiches, salads and Roman-style pizza; and
- Self-serve iPourIt beverage system that offers 15 different beers on tap, a selection of wines and a full bar, totaling approximately 40 drink options.
Glenn, who also owns multiple Jimmy’s Egg locations, spoke with Oklahoma Business Voice about what Northpark Pickleball will offer and how he got the idea.
The restauranteur said he was walking inside Northpark Mall over a year ago, getting some exercise and thinking about his son’s tennis team needing indoor space to practice in during the winter. Northpark Mall, he thought, might be able to provide such a space. He later presented the idea to his wife.
“And she says, ‘You know what that place needs? It needs pickleball,'” Glenn recalled.
Glenn had never played pickleball, but he was intrigued. He researched the sport, its availability in the region and the broadness of its appeal as a recreational activity.
He contacted Kevyn Colburn, executive vice president for Tom Morris Enterprises, Inc., which owns Shoppes at Northpark.
“We talked and we both felt like it was a great need for that area, and that it would be something great to revitalize the mall,” Glenn said.
Colburn said she and her colleagues first looked into upgrading the Northpark 7 into a new, state-of-the-art movie theater, but learned that it would be a $10-million investment.
“That wasn’t an option. So, we just started searching for what would be the best fit for our shopping center and what would make sense,” Colburn said. “Pickleball is what we came down to, and we’re super excited about it. We think it’s the perfect fit.”
Glenn’s concept originally included only a few pickleball courts.
“The more I researched pickleball, I realized to be competitive, you have to have at least 12 [pickleball courts]. And if you really want to do it right, you also have to bring in the food and bar segments in order to get the kind of return you need to make,” Glenn said. “You can get just the pickleball [enthusiasts], but you want everybody.”
The demand for pickleball – a sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping pong – is surging in Oklahoma City, and other businesses in the area that offer the recreational sport are frequently booked up. Northpark’s central location in OKC also made the concept attractive, Glenn said.
“I put the business plan together and said, ‘Golly. I really think this thing has got legs,'” he said.
He presented the pickleball plan to his business partners.
“We all decided to jump out and do it,” he said.
Pickleball’s social aspect makes it more than just a fad, Glenn said.
“I’ve got several friends that get up before they go to work and they go out and play pickleball,” he said. “I think there’s a need for it to grow. I think that the area is perfect for that because it’s centralized all the way around, and there’s nothing over there like it.”
The social, recreational experience that pickleball lends itself to makes it ideal for including a bar and restaurant in the complex.
The restaurant will offer a unique culinary experience that Glenn says will be new to Oklahoma: Roman-style pizza.
“Roman-style pizza, which is pizza by the slice, basically, is made from high hydration flour. It’s an incredible, incredible flavor. It’s different than anything that’s in Oklahoma right now. They don’t have it. I got it out of Chicago, and it originally came out of Italy,” he said.
The bar will feature an innovative iPourIt self-pour system.
“It’s got 40 taps on it. You’ve got several different beers, different wines, different mixed drinks,” Glenn said.
iPourIt allows customers to pour their drinks by using a wristband to activate the taps on the beer wall. Customers can even purchase drinks by the ounce to get a taste and see if they like the drink, Glenn said.
“It works with pickleball incredibly well because it doesn’t take up one area where everyone’s waiting,” he said.
Northpark Pickleball’s grand opening is planned for Fall 2025.
