Tulane will build new tennis, pickleball courts on Broadway | Business News

Tulane University is planning to turn a portion of the Uptown parking lot it owns at University Square in the 200 block of Broadway into six new NCAA regulation tennis courts and four pickleball courts. 

The facility will be located next to the Lambeth House retirement community at Broadway and Leake Avenue and will be built primarily for Tulane’s tennis teams, according to documents filed with the city and information shared by Tulane ahead of a neighborhood meeting next month. But they will be open to the broader university community and the general public when not in use by student athletes.  

The university sent official notifications of the project to neighbors in a letter dated April 16. The property is zoned for mixed-use, which means it allows for parks and playgrounds, including court sports, though Tulane will need city approval to re-subdivide the property.

The courts won’t be lit and will only be available for use during the day, the letter said.

Tulane spokesperson Mike Strecker said Tuesday that the project, which was first announced more than a year ago, has been well received and is expected to break ground in May. Construction is scheduled to take about eight months.

“This project represents a valuable addition to both our campus and the surrounding neighborhood,” Strecker said. “Constructing these tennis and pickle ball courts will ensure that our student athletes have a dedicated space to train, compete and represent Tulane University.”

Lambeth House CEO Scott Crabtree said his community supports the project.

“We’re happy about it,” he said. “It will bring permanent vitality to the area and our residents can take advantage of the courts and go watch NCAA tennis.”

Seeking a spot for new courts

Tulane has been in need of a new tennis facility since its on-campus tennis courts were ripped up to make way for Yulman Stadium in 2013.

In the years since, the university’s tennis team has practiced and competed at City Park.

In 2021, Tulane and the Audubon Nature Institute began working on a deal to move the Green Wave tennis team to the Audubon Tennis Courts near the zoo. But the agreement would have required Tulane to renovate the old clay courts, which the university decided was too expensive, so it opted to build on university-owned property instead.  

Tulane has owned University Square since purchasing the property from Lambeth House in the early 2000s.

Having a new tennis facility there, Strecker said, “is tremendous for the student-athlete experience as well as recruiting the best to play for Tulane.”

He said the Crescent City Farmer’s Market, held in the parking lot on Tuesday mornings, will not be forced to relocate.

Pickleball craze

Tulane’s new pickleball courts will be the latest of several to open in the New Orleans area.

In 2023, the Exchange Pickleball + Beer opened in the Garden District, and in 2024, Drew Brees opened Pickles N Pins in Metairie. The Hilton downtown has also converted some of its old racquetball and tennis courts into pickleball courts, as have private tennis clubs.

Hotelier Jayson Seidman, who operates pickleball courts at one of his Texas hotels and managed the Exchange last year, said the sport, which captured the imagination of a stir-crazy nation during the pandemic, has showed no signs of slowing down.

“It’s still a popular game and New Orleans is an underserved market,” he said.

Tulane is holding a required Neighborhood Participation Program meeting to discuss the plans at 6 p.m., Thursday, May 1, at 200 Broadway, Ste. 142.