Swedish real estate companies have seen a real business opportunity in converting empty premises into padel clubs!

Empty premises quickly filled by the madness of Swedish padel!

Industrial premises and buildings, assembly lines: what do they have in common? They are for some empty because of the pandemic.

With the buzz generated by many celebrities such as: Jacob de Geer, founder of Izettle, Marcus Ericson, ex Formula 1 driver, Måns Zelmerlöw, artist, Jonas Bjorkman, former professional tennis player and captain of the Swedish padel team, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ex PSG star and current AC Milan, the Padel's popularity rating is soaring !

This has convinced some investors to transform these unoccupied rooms into padel clubs. Rutger Arnhults Klövern has even created a subsidiary within its real estate group: Klövern Padel !

Extremely rapid success

Jakob Morndal - development manager at Klövern:

“It started because we had an empty room in Kista since the postage stamp factory moved. Then, we simply thought of filling in the location, but also of adding a more attractive activity for the area. In addition, we are important owners in Kista. ”

“Today we often reach 100% occupancy in the padel halls.”

More Klövern is also owner AND builder. Jakob Morndal Explain :

“I see many advantages there. This means that we can look at other types of premises to use them. But also that we can offer added value to Klövern customers. ”

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It is above all the high profitability of the padel courts which is targeted. Jakob Morndal declares:

“Yes, of course it's a good deal.”

“It also depends on your level: you can very well have a large automated metal box in Sweden without any staff. We place ourselves at a slightly higher level both on the quality of the premises and on the staff. ”

Padel: an easy and quick return on investment!

Padel clubs are more profitable than other competing sports facilities, which is pushing investors to storm empty structures to put courts there.

As padel is mainly played in doubles, the courts are played by 4 players and the prices charged are necessarily higher, which allows for a faster return on investment.

Klövern rubs his hands. But empty premises are becoming sought after and are therefore increasingly rare.

Jakob Mörndal says:

"There are not many premises with a roof height of 10 meters available and accessible in well-located places. This market is now quite popular. ”

“There will also be a new stage, with the construction of new padel halls, but it is a more difficult calculation to make in terms of profitability.”

Will Sweden keep pace?

Will Sweden be able to keep up this pace? This question can be asked when we know that today it has more than 500 padel halls for a total of more than 1500 courts, according to theSwedish Padel Association.

Jakob Morndal affirms:

“Skövde will soon have 50 theaters / just over 50 inhabitants, the phenomenon of saturation will therefore begin to be felt in some small towns. But conversely, in the urban areas of large cities, development is slowed down due to the lack of functional premises and land to install new constructions. ”

Klövern continues to build and is currently creating one of the largest padel centers in the world in Mölndal, where the real estate company carried out one of the biggest relocations during the 4th quarter. The 14 m² Åbymässan will have no less than 819 courts and will open in April. New facilities in Västerås and Norrköping are also planned for Klövern Padel in 2021.

Many other Swedish companies see padel as a great opportunity to make the most of existing fields. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield built a new sports facility on the roof of the Westfield Mall of Scandinavia, which will include 3 padel courts.

Moreover, one of the future projects of Hufvudstaden will be located in the center de Stockholm, will have padel courts and will also be on the roof of the parking lot Parkaden. Opening of this 3 m² facility with 000 padel courts is scheduled for April.

source: official website di.se

Sylvain Barnett

Sylvain Barnet, French Swiss Army Knife and sports enthusiast. Geek with a sharp quill, loves when a plan goes off without a hitch. And always up for a game.

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