Taking part in a ceremonial ‘first throw’ for Performance Pickleball RVA were, from left: Rob Hargett, Leah Fremouw, Lee Warfield, Supervisor Pat O’Bannon, Jeff Newman, Jon Laaser and County Manager John Vithoulkas. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
A double play of sorts for Henrico recreation and sports tourism played out over the course of four hours Tuesday.
Soon after county officials celebrated the start of construction for an 18-court pickleball venue at Regency, Henrico announced a big win for its upcoming sports and events center at Virginia Center Commons: a two-year booking to host the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship in March 2024 and 2025.
The county’s announcement described the Division I conference championship as the first marquee event for the sports side of the under-construction center, which is scheduled to open this fall at VCC, the transforming former mall off Brook Road and along Interstate 95.
The under-construction Henrico Sports & Event Center at Virginia Center Commons. (Henrico County photo)
The booking marks the tournament’s return to metro Richmond, where it was held at the now-shuttered Richmond Coliseum from 2014 to 2018, and at VCU’s Siegel Center in 2021. VCU and University of Richmond are among the conference’s members.
Dennis Bickmeier
“We are absolutely ecstatic to partner with the Atlantic 10 to bring all the excitement and fun of March Madness to Henrico County and our region,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, in the announcement.
Bickmeier, the announcement said, attended the A-10’s recent annual meeting, where he gave a preview of what the conference could expect from the $50 million facility, which is managed by the authority. The authority worked with Richmond Region Tourism to submit a bid for the tournament after the A-10 expressed interest in the center last fall.
The tournament is expected to bring with it an economic impact for area hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The past two championships were held at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, and the 2022 event attracted more than 13,000 people and 1,000 hotel room bookings, the announcement said.
Already a key part of Henrico’s sports tourism program, the yet-to-open center is quickly filling up its 2024 calendar, with several dozen weekends already booked, Bickmeier said Tuesday. Among those bookings, announced last month, is the 2024 Adult and Junior Division Wheelchair Basketball National Tournaments, to be held over the first two weekends in April.
The indoor courts will be designed primarily for basketball and volleyball events. (File image courtesy Henrico County)
Designed to also host volleyball tournaments and concerts, the 185,000-square-foot facility will feature more than 115,000 square feet of adaptable event space with stadium seating, and room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts. The event center also is to be used for school graduations and other gatherings. It’s expected to be finished in September 2023. EDC is the general contractor.
The center is a joint effort by Henrico and local development firm Rebkee, which is leading the mixed-use transformation of the former mall not only at VCC but also, with Thalhimer Realty Partners, at Regency – the site of Tuesday’s other sports celebration.
‘Pickleball paradise’
The Regency event was held outside the former Macy’s space that will house Performance Pickleball RVA.
County officials Tuesday morning joined Rebkee principal Rob Hargett and supporters and operators of Performance Pickleball RVA for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the 18-court venue that’s set to fill the ground floor of the former Macy’s North space
County Manager John Vithoulkas and Tuckahoe Supervisor Pat O’Bannon took part in a “ceremonial first throw” to mark the start of the project along with Hargett and PPBRVA owners Lee Warfield, Jon Laaser, Jeff Newman and Leah Fremouw.
Interior demolition work started this week on the 41,000-square-foot space, which is set to be filled with 12 indoor courts, vending areas, a pro shop and other facilities, while a second phase will add six outdoor courts adjacent to the building. The project was announced last month as the largest dedicated indoor pickleball venue in Virginia. It will be located below Surge Adventure Park.
Interior demolition work on the venue started this week.
Warfield, who is also CEO of Thalhimer, called Regency the perfect spot for the venue, which he said would add to the live-work-play dynamic at the transforming mall. Thalhimer and Rebkee own Regency through a joint venture.
“The county has been very supportive of pickleball,” Warfield told the crowd. “Too often in the real estate development world, we kind of butt heads with local government. Not all the time, but some of the time. It can be frustrating, it’s an imperfect process, but I can tell you, the redevelopment we’ve seen with our relationship with Henrico has been just the opposite.”
Vithoulkas, a Tucker High School grad, he recalled the popularity of what was then called Regency Square as a shopping destination before that popularity declined in recent decades, when he took the helm as county manager. He said the venue, along with current and future courts at Pouncey Tract Park, would help make Henrico a “pickleball paradise.”
An exterior rendering of the venue. (Image courtesy Performance Pickleball RVA)
“As a newer county manager coming in and seeing the decline of Regency and that location and what it meant to our county, and then looking up at this dream team and literally getting out of the way and letting them be as creative as possible,” Vithoulkas said, “I want to thank Lee and Rob and Mark (Slusher, TRP principal) and the whole group.”
Noting Regency’s other tenants, including the NOVA of Virginia Aquatics swimming facility, as well as such additions as The Rise at Regency apartments, Hargett promised more to come with the development and hinted at announcements coming soon for the former JCPenney space.
“This whole retail meltdown happened pretty fast,” Hargett said, referring back to when they purchased Regency in 2015. “(Thalhimer’s Mark Slusher) and I thought we bought a mall, and we bought a community place. It’s been really cool to make it.”
The venue will join other additions to the transforming mall including The Rise at Regency apartments.
Laaser, a former broadcaster and voice of the Richmond Flying Squirrels who will handle the venue’s day-to-day operations as COO, said the venue is targeted to open in early December. Cross Creek Builders is the general contractor on the project, and Interactive Design Group is the architect.
Laaser said a website launching in June will offer advance memberships and introduce the group’s instructional team, which will offer programming including clinics, leagues, drop-in play sessions and tournaments. While offering memberships, the venue will also be open to nonmembers.
“The dream of Performance Pickleball RVA is to create a center for the pickleball community,” Laaser said.
Taking part in a ceremonial ‘first throw’ for Performance Pickleball RVA were, from left: Rob Hargett, Leah Fremouw, Lee Warfield, Supervisor Pat O’Bannon, Jeff Newman, Jon Laaser and County Manager John Vithoulkas. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
A double play of sorts for Henrico recreation and sports tourism played out over the course of four hours Tuesday.
Soon after county officials celebrated the start of construction for an 18-court pickleball venue at Regency, Henrico announced a big win for its upcoming sports and events center at Virginia Center Commons: a two-year booking to host the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship in March 2024 and 2025.
The county’s announcement described the Division I conference championship as the first marquee event for the sports side of the under-construction center, which is scheduled to open this fall at VCC, the transforming former mall off Brook Road and along Interstate 95.
The under-construction Henrico Sports & Event Center at Virginia Center Commons. (Henrico County photo)
The booking marks the tournament’s return to metro Richmond, where it was held at the now-shuttered Richmond Coliseum from 2014 to 2018, and at VCU’s Siegel Center in 2021. VCU and University of Richmond are among the conference’s members.
Dennis Bickmeier
“We are absolutely ecstatic to partner with the Atlantic 10 to bring all the excitement and fun of March Madness to Henrico County and our region,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, in the announcement.
Bickmeier, the announcement said, attended the A-10’s recent annual meeting, where he gave a preview of what the conference could expect from the $50 million facility, which is managed by the authority. The authority worked with Richmond Region Tourism to submit a bid for the tournament after the A-10 expressed interest in the center last fall.
The tournament is expected to bring with it an economic impact for area hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The past two championships were held at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, and the 2022 event attracted more than 13,000 people and 1,000 hotel room bookings, the announcement said.
Already a key part of Henrico’s sports tourism program, the yet-to-open center is quickly filling up its 2024 calendar, with several dozen weekends already booked, Bickmeier said Tuesday. Among those bookings, announced last month, is the 2024 Adult and Junior Division Wheelchair Basketball National Tournaments, to be held over the first two weekends in April.
The indoor courts will be designed primarily for basketball and volleyball events. (File image courtesy Henrico County)
Designed to also host volleyball tournaments and concerts, the 185,000-square-foot facility will feature more than 115,000 square feet of adaptable event space with stadium seating, and room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts. The event center also is to be used for school graduations and other gatherings. It’s expected to be finished in September 2023. EDC is the general contractor.
The center is a joint effort by Henrico and local development firm Rebkee, which is leading the mixed-use transformation of the former mall not only at VCC but also, with Thalhimer Realty Partners, at Regency – the site of Tuesday’s other sports celebration.
‘Pickleball paradise’
The Regency event was held outside the former Macy’s space that will house Performance Pickleball RVA.
County officials Tuesday morning joined Rebkee principal Rob Hargett and supporters and operators of Performance Pickleball RVA for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the 18-court venue that’s set to fill the ground floor of the former Macy’s North space
County Manager John Vithoulkas and Tuckahoe Supervisor Pat O’Bannon took part in a “ceremonial first throw” to mark the start of the project along with Hargett and PPBRVA owners Lee Warfield, Jon Laaser, Jeff Newman and Leah Fremouw.
Interior demolition work started this week on the 41,000-square-foot space, which is set to be filled with 12 indoor courts, vending areas, a pro shop and other facilities, while a second phase will add six outdoor courts adjacent to the building. The project was announced last month as the largest dedicated indoor pickleball venue in Virginia. It will be located below Surge Adventure Park.
Interior demolition work on the venue started this week.
Warfield, who is also CEO of Thalhimer, called Regency the perfect spot for the venue, which he said would add to the live-work-play dynamic at the transforming mall. Thalhimer and Rebkee own Regency through a joint venture.
“The county has been very supportive of pickleball,” Warfield told the crowd. “Too often in the real estate development world, we kind of butt heads with local government. Not all the time, but some of the time. It can be frustrating, it’s an imperfect process, but I can tell you, the redevelopment we’ve seen with our relationship with Henrico has been just the opposite.”
Vithoulkas, a Tucker High School grad, he recalled the popularity of what was then called Regency Square as a shopping destination before that popularity declined in recent decades, when he took the helm as county manager. He said the venue, along with current and future courts at Pouncey Tract Park, would help make Henrico a “pickleball paradise.”
An exterior rendering of the venue. (Image courtesy Performance Pickleball RVA)
“As a newer county manager coming in and seeing the decline of Regency and that location and what it meant to our county, and then looking up at this dream team and literally getting out of the way and letting them be as creative as possible,” Vithoulkas said, “I want to thank Lee and Rob and Mark (Slusher, TRP principal) and the whole group.”
Noting Regency’s other tenants, including the NOVA of Virginia Aquatics swimming facility, as well as such additions as The Rise at Regency apartments, Hargett promised more to come with the development and hinted at announcements coming soon for the former JCPenney space.
“This whole retail meltdown happened pretty fast,” Hargett said, referring back to when they purchased Regency in 2015. “(Thalhimer’s Mark Slusher) and I thought we bought a mall, and we bought a community place. It’s been really cool to make it.”
The venue will join other additions to the transforming mall including The Rise at Regency apartments.
Laaser, a former broadcaster and voice of the Richmond Flying Squirrels who will handle the venue’s day-to-day operations as COO, said the venue is targeted to open in early December. Cross Creek Builders is the general contractor on the project, and Interactive Design Group is the architect.
Laaser said a website launching in June will offer advance memberships and introduce the group’s instructional team, which will offer programming including clinics, leagues, drop-in play sessions and tournaments. While offering memberships, the venue will also be open to nonmembers.
“The dream of Performance Pickleball RVA is to create a center for the pickleball community,” Laaser said.
Henrico continues to dunk on Chesterfield. Chesterfield needs to step it up with it’s inefficient leadership
Chesterfield – as the saying goes: penny wise; pound foolish.
Or, it is just sound management. Most of the people I have personally heard use the penny wise cliche have ended up embarrassed eventually.
I think they are BOTH doing very well — they have different strengths and needs, just like Richmond.
One thing I have heard all across the country is “pickleball is huge” and I think one of the best things about it seems to be that starting out is relatively easy, but it can get as competitive as one wants. Who knows, it may some day displace a rather unimportant Olympic Sport one day. With aging demographics in wealthy countries and so many of that strata having to give up tennis. It seems the future is very bright!