Indoor pickleball center to open in Annandale

Plans are underway for an indoor pickleball facility in the long-vacant Kid’s Choice building on Ravensworth Road in Annandale.

The Down the Line Sports Center will have 18 pickleball courts, golf simulators, and a sports bar with a balcony for spectators, says owner Jenni Bae.

Bae hopes to open the facility in the second half of 2024.

“It’s not just going to be an indoor gym,” she says. Bae plans to create a premiere facility to serve the entire area, hosting tournaments, teams, leagues, and youth programs, as well as a gathering place for pickleball players at all levels – beginners, advanced, and professional. Group and private instruction will be offered, too.

“Our center will be a hub serving neighboring communities,” Bae says, and tournaments could attract players from out-of-state, which would also boost Annandale’s economy.

Down the Line will be membership based but people can also come to the center as guests. Members will have priority access, members-only locker rooms, and other benefits not yet finalized.

Bae’s family owns the Han Gang restaurant next door and two Japanese steakhouses in Maryland and one in Sterling. Their original plan for the Kid’s Choice building was to replace it with a senior center and banquet hall. That proposal was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2018, but the project never proceeded.

Instead, “once we saw how popular pickleball is, our family decided to pivot,” Bae said. “The building was designed as a sports facility, so that made more sense.”

An avid tennis player, Bae picked up pickleball during the pandemic. “The great thing about pickleball is it welcomes all ages and all levels of play. It’s a fun atmosphere and very social.”

Related story: Supervisors approve daycare facility for seniors/banquet hall in central Annandale

Bae enjoys playing with her father, who is nearly 30 years older, noting, “We are able to play a sport together competitively.”

“Skill is not directly related to age,” she says, as there are 10-year-olds playing in tournaments. Bae hopes to get more youths involved in the sport by hosting youth programs and camps for kids.

Bae is also opening a temporary Down the Line pickleball center in a vacant CVS at Courthouse Plaza in Fairfax in January. It will have three full courts and two practice courts. The City of Fairfax approved the project Dec. 12.

When the City of Fairfax’s economic development office learned about the future pickleball center in Annandale, Bae says, they decided to adopt a similar project on a smaller scale as a way to repurpose a vacant building before it can be redeveloped.