The Pickle Lodge and the Seed of an Idea Sprouting from Seattle

How Kiesland’s Andy Mauk Let a Dream Germinate for 40 Years to Make a Play in Greater Cincinnati

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, and the game first started establishing a footprint in Greater Cincinnati in 2016. Kiesland Development Services proudly delivered The Pickle Lodge – the second largest indoor pickleball complex in the United States – in West Chester in April 2024. But what most people don’t know is that the beginnings of that project were inspired in part by a trip that Kiesland’s Vice President of Sales, Andy Mauk, took to Seattle in the summer of 1978 after his freshman year in college.

Thirteen years prior, in 1965, three dads were looking for an activity for their kids to enjoy during the summer on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. Joel Pritchard, a US congressman from Washington State, and businessman Bill Bell improvised to create a new game involving stuff they found around Pritchard’s house – a badminton net, homemade paddles crafted from plywood, and a whiffle ball. The goal was to create a game that anyone of any age could play, ensuring that both families could avoid a summer of boredom. A weekend later, fellow dad Barney McCallum joined the effort and helped create rules for the game. Those first games of pickleball were played on an old badminton court on Pritchard’s property, and two years later, the first official pickleball court was constructed in another neighbor’s backyard.

Mauk traveled to Seattle in 1978 to visit his brother and take a job for the summer. At the time, pickleball was a burgeoning sport in the Pacific Northwest, with a few clubs boasting pickleball courts, and families building pickleball courts behind the back patio. Mauk’s uncle had connections to the sport’s founders, and other relatives were early adopters of the sport. Mauk ended up playing pickleball the entire summer he spent in Seattle, never having any idea that his favorite real estate deal would involve this funky sport with a paddle and a whiffle ball.

Pickleball was first featured in Tennis magazine in 1976 in an article about “America’s newest racquet sport,” and the sport has enjoyed steady growth ever since. Its popularity is due in large part to the ease of playing, the affordability of its equipment, and the social nature of the game’s play. Different sources say that between 20 million and 48 million Americans played pickleball in 2024, with the largest age group being between 25 and 34 years old. No matter who you ask, the meteoric growth of the sport is undeniable, and there are now more than 16,000 places to play pickleball across the country. And Kiesland’s Andy Mauk was obsessed with developing one of them.

That trip to Seattle in 1978 gave Mauk a seed of an idea that would stay beneath the surface until more than 40 years later, when he heard about a family-friendly entertainment venue in Kansas City that combined indoor pickleball courts and casual, chef-driven dining. Mauk thought the idea would be a natural hit in Cincinnati and initially tried contacting sources in Missouri but was unable to make a connection. Undeterred, Mauk reached out to the Cincinnati Pickleball Club Founder, Mitch Dunn, to explore whether its members were interested in developing a venue.

Mauk’s decades of experience in commercial real estate came into play while pursuing this pickleball deal; his 40-year career allowed him to form relationships with key attorneys, investors, and business leaders in Greater Cincinnati who could vouch for the former broker. Mauk was able to grow a rapport with project partners, helping garner trust for Kiesland as a construction partner and confidence for the work that its team could deliver.

The Kiesland team worked with its client-partners to deliver what would become The Pickle Lodge, a 60,000 SF venue with 17 dedicated indoor pickleball courts and six outdoor courts. The destination in West Chester includes a popular dining venue, Two Cities Pizza, with family-friendly offerings, and Erne’s Pickle Bar, which has 18 rotating beer taps and other beverages to quench your thirst after an especially heated game of pickleball. The Pickle Lodge offers several membership levels to suit patrons’ needs, and it also offers advanced court reservations to non-members depending on availability or during Open Play sessions. Members may also take advantage of a special event space to host private parties and corporate events.

It would surprise no one if Kiesland delivered another pickleball venue in Greater Cincinnati or other nearby markets. The sport and its rapid growth are expected to grow from a $1.3 billion industry in 2023 to a whopping $4.4 billion in 2033. That kind of scale will lead to an urgent demand for pickleball courts from coast to coast. Kiesland is ready to serve.