カナダ・ブリティッシュコロンビア州、メトロバンクーバーのツワッセン（Tsawwassen）に、州内最大級の屋内ピックルボール施設「The Nest（ザ・ネスト）」が2026年7月に開業した。延床面積は約98,000平方フィート（約9,100平方メートル）。規模より立地の組み立て方に特徴がある。大型ショッピングモール「Tsawwassen Mills」の駐車場に隣接し、土地はツワッセン先住民（Tsawwassen First Nation）の管理地。モールと先住民、競技運営者が組んで一つの屋内コート群を成立させている。土地と天候の制約に阻まれてきた日本の施設運営に、別解を示す事例だ。
14 permanent courts, up to 28 for tournaments, and more than 1,000 players at the provincial championships in week one
Pickleball BCの発表によれば、常設のピックルボール専用コートは14面。バレーボールと兼用できる可変スペースを加え、大規模大会時には最大28面まで展開できる。天井高は約30フィート、コート周囲には8〜10フィートの余白を確保し、約5,500平方フィートの付帯スペースには用具販売の「Pickleball Depot」が入る。主導するのはプロツアーPPAの選手でラスベガス・ナイトアウルズのコーチも務めるスティーブ・ディーキン氏と、創業パートナーのローン・ロワゼル氏。会員制でコーチング、クリニック、リーグ戦を回す。
The opening week was handled with intent as well. A new building usually starts with taster sessions or free open play; The Nest instead took on the 2026 Pickleball BC Provincial Championships from July 22 to 26, running a province-wide official event with more than 1,000 players through the doors from day one. It is a way of testing the operation from the outset.
| Item | The Nest (Tsawwassen) |
|---|---|
| Total floor area | About 98,000 sq ft (about 9,100 sqm) |
| Permanent Courts | 14 dedicated pickleball courts |
| Maximum layout | Up to 28 courts for tournaments, convertible space included |
| Ceiling height | About 30 feet |
| Location | Adjacent to the Tsawwassen Mills parking lot / on First Nation administered land |
| Opening week | More than 1,000 players at the provincial championships (July 22-26) |
Empty floor space in a mall losing tenants, crossed with First Nation land outside provincial law
The Nest’s location rests on two elements. One is the unused floor area of a large mall losing tenants. The other is a land status, First Nation administered land, which holds a degree of discretion outside the provincial framework. In North America the move to convert vacant retail into courts has been spreading, and this outlet has coveredthe plan by The Picklr, the US chain that turns empty stores into courts, to enter Japan. The Nest sits on the same line while going a step further, in that it made not the mall itself but an entire building next to the parking lot into an indoor sports venue.
Sitting on First Nations-managed land affects construction speed, land cost, and how the project is framed as economic development. For the First Nation it becomes a local business that puts idle land to work and generates jobs and visitors; for the operator it makes a large, flat site in a major metro area far easier to secure. Toronto's publicly funded 11-courtpublic court expansionのような税金による積み増しとは、別の資金の出所で屋内・通年型の大型施設が立ち上がったことになる。米アリゾナ州で建設許可が下りた48面規模のPURE in Scottsdale, which was granted a building permit in Arizona: The Nest has fewer courts, but it differs in character by siting itself where infrastructure and foot traffic already exist.
Local coverage read it as courts inside a retail cluster
Local media focused on both the size and the location. Daily Hive led with the floor area, and the provincial association Pickleball BC called it one of the largest in the province. The Delta Optimist and the North Delta Reporter treated it as a new draw for the Tsawwassen Mills mall, highlighting how shopping and play can now happen on one site. What they share is a view of the venue not as a standalone sports facility but as courts inside a retail cluster. Staging the provincial championships in its opening week, and proving the building works that early, was also received well.
日本では商業施設の遊休面積を同じ役割に使える可能性
Adding courts in Japan is hard. Outdoor sites bring rain, noise, and negotiations with neighbors; indoor space means high rent. That is why attaching courts to an existing facility has become the realistic option. This site has covered the case of courts built into a hot-spring bathing complex, theAwaji Island visitor-draw model, and The Nest pulled off the same idea at a much larger scale: idle mall floor area plus year-round indoor play. Large commercial buildings with conspicuous vacancies, mostly outside the big cities, and suburban stores with sprawling parking decks resemble the spare space The Nest used, where people and cars already move. The retail side wants longer dwell times and the sports side wants flat, year-round space, and those interests line up. Japan has no institutional advantage equivalent to First Nations land, but tenant-attraction incentives and municipal programs for reusing idle facilities can stand in for it.
Weekday daytime usage will decide whether the mixed-use model works
Whether The Nest succeeds will be decided by weekday daytime usage once the opening surge fades. Tournament demand like a provincial championship comes only a few times a year; what sustains a year-round facility is member leagues and lessons. Being inside a mall makes it easy to pick up beginners who came to shop, but whether committed players will treat it as a place worth traveling to is a separate question. Housing the Pickleball Depot equipment shop inside is meant to keep demo-to-purchase within the building and add a second revenue stream. What operators in Japan can take from this is a shift in how they think about location, from hunting for a dedicated site to borrowing space that is already spare, and a launch that throws dense demand at the opening week to get an early read. The next thing to watch is how much usage it holds in ordinary months with no tournament. That is where a mixed-use location proves its worth.
Sources
- 604 Now「One of B.C.’s Biggest Pickleball Facility Just Opened in Metro Vancouver」
- Pickleball BC「Major New BC Pickleball Facility Announcement: The 98,000 Square Foot The Nest」
- Daily Hive「A 98,000 sq. ft. pickleball centre will soon open in Metro Vancouver」
- North Delta Reporter「B.C.’s largest indoor pickleball centre opening in Tsawwassen」
- Delta Optimist「Tsawwassen Mills mall offers new courts for pickleball」
