A growing sport is getting a temporary home in Tysons, bringing new life to a parking lot that’s been slated for redevelopment for more than a decade.
Earlier this month (Dec. 3), the Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously approved a development plan amendment to allow six outdoor padel ball courts on surface parking for the Greensboro Park offices at 8200 Greensboro Drive.
The game is a mix of squash, tennis and pickleball and originated in Mexico. It is played in an enclosed space of glass and mesh walls with teams of two, allowing players to bounce the ball off the walls to try scoring points.
Amr Hussein, project manager with Epic Padel, said the game is becoming popular in the South, the Middle East and Europe.
The D.C. area’s first dedicated padel facility, Padel Up, opened in Sterling last year.
“It’s moving around the world currently,” he said. “It’s a fun game for sure.”
The roughly 2.5-acre office complex is planned for redevelopment with more than 1,000 residential units across two towers, plus 3,000 square feet of publicly accessible community space and up to 1,990 square feet of retail. That plan was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2014, but hasn’t moved forward yet.
“It’s an opportunity to activate a corner of Tysons that has kind of been sleepy for quite some time,” said Bernard Suchicital, a land-use planner with Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh. “This is an opportunity to bring some activity, daytime and nighttime activity, to the heart of Tysons.”
Epic Padel’s recreational space would also include bathrooms, locker rooms and merch and food stands. It would be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekend. Occupancy would be capped at 50 people.
Under the approved plan amendment, the padel ball courts will be allowed on the property for five years once the project clears the site plan process. Any extension would require another zoning approval.
“If we can extend,” Hussein said, “we definitely would take the chance.”
