Real Dill® Pickleball Clubs are dedicated facilities designed to accommodate both competitive players in search of leagues and tournaments, as well as recreational players looking for a place to meet up for a friendly game.
A place for players
Social Connectivity
Frequently Asked Questions
Real Dill® facilities range between eight and twelve courts depending on the market and indications of demand. Our typical club has seven indoor courts and one outdoor court. Each facility is designed to allow us to easily convert courts for outdoor use if desired.
Pricing for court rentals is set at $40/hr. during peak hours of operation. During off-peak hours the pricing is reduced to $30/hr. A membership option is also available at a cost of $100/mo. which allows for unrestricted play during off-peak hours (8am-4pm Mon-Fri). Certain limitations may apply.
Here’s what is available:
- Monthly tournaments for social users to meet other players and expand their network of friends.
- Monthly tournaments for competitive players to refine their skills and improve their ratings status.
- Seasonal league play for all skill levels.
- Ladders tournaments using our proprietary game play “The Dills”.
- Annual club championship with significant cash prizes.
- Annual club charity tournament with proceeds going to a great cause.
- Full time on-site Pickleball Professional offering lessons and facilitating competitive game play.
- Lessons and workshops available.
- Rental equipment available
- All courts are surfaced with 100% acrylic coatings to create the ideal surface texture for non-slip footing, true pickleball bounce, and minimal abrasion and wear on pickleballs.
- Our open-air design provides clear-span space (no structural columns) and ceiling heights unobstructed below 18ft.
- High ceilings, skylights and windows provide for an abundance of natural light. High performance tension fabric structures allow for a high degree of light transmission creating a light and airy feel.
- Separated court space reduces game interruptions and noise from neighboring players.
- Acoustic treatments reduce overall noise levels from game play and social activities.
- Available for group rentals and configured to allow for adjoining parties to connect spaces.
Yes! Changing rooms and lockers are made available for daily use.
The club is designed to accommodate event rentals with a minimum of twelve guests and a maximum of approximately 200 guests (depending on location). Private courts include a gathering area adjacent to the courts to accommodate and appeal to smaller groups, and each court may be connected to the adjacent courts to allow for optionality.
We would love to hear from you! The goal of The Real Dill® is to help facilitate growth for the sport of pickleball by building clubs on a national scale. If you would like to tell us why you think your market is a fit, please feel free to contact us by filling out the “Contact Us” form. If you are interested in becoming an investor, please click below to send us an email.
Our Locations
St. Louis, MO
The District of St. Louis
The Real Dill® Pickleball Club is excited to announce our upcoming new location in St. Louis, MO! The District development is a very unique offering and is something of a first in the industry. The Staenberg Group is in the process of creating a retail destination that is almost entirely made up of experiential hospitality concepts.
The developers began by building a stand-alone concert venue called The Factory with capacity for approximately 2,500 guests. Having opened in the summer of 2020, this first-class facility is already booking top acts and filling seats regularly. The addition of a Main Event bowling and arcade center at the east end of the parcel provides the second bookend that also opened this past summer. The addition of The Real Dill® will further bolster the area as a destination for fun and games.
The development team at The Staenberg Group is made up of industry veterans who are well versed in the dynamic art of building large mixed-use developments. Pardon the pun, but they are The Real Deal! Michael Staenberg and his team have developed roughly 2 million square feet of restaurant and retail space in the nearby area. Their experience of delivering projects over many years provides great confidence that they will continue to execute on their vision. Their contribution to our upcoming location has been and will continue to be invaluable as we progress through the development process and work toward an opening in early 2023!
Columbus, OH
The Real Dill® Pickleball Club is excited to announce our upcoming new location in Columbus, OH! The Galaxy at Polaris development is great match for The Real Dill®. With over 9 million square feet of retail, hospitality, office, and multifamily having already been developed, the area has long since been established as a destination for the surrounding suburbs to work, live, eat, and play. Our site within the latest phase of development is located adjacent to highly utilized outlets such as Topgolf and Ikea.
We have worked hand-in-hand with the Polaris team to optimize the site and help them realize their vision for further expansion of their multi-family and entertainment options. As pickleball players themselves, the folks in charge of making decisions for Polaris understand how we intend to position our brand and see a clear connection with their core consumers. We look forward to a successful opening in the fall of 2023!
Coming Soon!
The goal of The Real Dill is to help facilitate growth for the sport of pickleball by building dedicated clubs and serving communities of players. With two projects on the books, we are currently in advanced discussions to round out our pipeline to a total of five projects this year.
We are supported by many prominent leaders and advocates for the growth of the pickleball. Their investment allows us to enter markets where local demand calls for top notch facilities, but local groups perhaps do not have the resources to build and operate on their own.
Our headquarters is in Chicago, but our development and operating platforms are structured for growth on a national level. If you have interest in working with us to bring a Real Dill Pickleball Club to your city, please feel free to reach out and let us know how we may be able to help.
We look forward to hearing from you!
About Us
Todd Reed
Managing Partner
Todd Reed is the Managing Partner for Real Dill® Pickleball Clubs. He is a twenty-year veteran of commercial real estate and has spent most of his career specializing in the development of identifiable hotel and retail properties throughout the country.
Most recently Todd was responsible for the origination, underwriting, and execution of projects for Aparium Hotel Group as their EVP of Development. AHG is a market leader in the development and operations of one-of-a-kind independent hotels in emerging second tier markets. Todd oversaw a team tasked with underwriting new markets, identifying opportunities, establishing hotel programming & positioning, building teams and onboarding consultants, structuring capital stacks and securing financing, and the oversight of project construction. In his time with this AHG team he was responsible for the development of The Hewing Hotel in Minneapolis, MN, The Detroit Foundation Hotel in Detroit, MI, The Crossroads Hotel in Kansas City, MO, The Surety Hotel in Des Moines, IA, and Hotel Haya in Tampa, FL.
In 2012 Todd spearheaded the repositioning of the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado as an independent contractor for Convexity Properties, a DRW Company. The renovation and modernization of the 127-year-old building elevated it to its current five-star status. Todd also served in an advisory role to lead the formation of deals for the Viceroy Hotel Chicago, RH Gallery Chicago, and The Robey Hotel.
Highlights from Todd’s role as a Development Manager for M Development in Chicago include the 90,000sf turnkey development for Barney’s NY, a 50,000 sf historic flagship facility and several additional retail projects for brands including Apple, lululemon, and Trader Joe’s.
While working for Lend Lease in the early 2000’s, Todd played a senior role in the budgeting and buyout efforts on high-rise buildings for the third largest contractor in the country. In the period from 2004-2007 he completed over fifty projects valued well in excess of $1billion. Hospitality projects include Trump International Hotel & Tower, Kimpton Hotel Palomar, Marriott River North, and The James Hotel.
Todd has a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University & an MBA in Real Estate Finance from DePaul University.
Cary Taylor
Leasing & Operations
Cary Taylor has been working in and developing restaurants for over 16 years.
As a chef in Chicago, Cary broke into the business working in the kitchen of internationally acclaimed chef Charlie Trotter. He continued his culinary education cooking under such noted chefs as James Beard Foundation Award winner Paul Kahan and current Top Chef host Graham Elliot. He worked with Richard Melman as a corporate chef for his famed Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises group, assisting at Ambria, Mon Ami Gabi and FoodLife and participating in the development of The Reel Club and Hub 51.
Cary’s first taste of development came when he helped re-concept a Chicago fine dining restaurant into a bustling, raucous Southern whiskey bar in the aftermath of the downturn in 2010. He also teamed with the owners of Chicago’s One-Off Hospitality group to help oversee the commissary kitchen build out for Big Star taqueria’s expansion as well as restaurant design for the adjoining diner, Dove’s Luncheonette.
Most recently, Cary opened County Road Ice-House with Kansas City’s barbecue legends Jeff and Joy Stehney of Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. Cary participated in all phases of the kitchen construction, restaurant design and menu development for this large project based in the Power & Light district.
In 2010, Cary invented and patented ModPans, his own line of commercial kitchen food storage containers. They are now sold on three continents and most notably are used in Domino’s Pizza franchises across the country.
He has provided consulting services for national accounts such as Oscar Meyer, San Jamar, and ConAgra as well as local brand BeerKC. Cary has been an avid supporter of Meals on Wheels, Pilot Light, Alex’s Lemonade Stand and No Kid Hungry.
A native of Columbus, Georgia, Cary now resides in Kansas City, MO. and works as a commercial real estate broker for Crossroads Real Estate Group.
George Bauernfeind
Strategic Growth Partner
George is a Sales & Marketing expert and Strategic Partnership builder with unrivaled success in growing and transforming business, meeting and exceeding revenue goals, and delivering profitable growth by developing and implementing strategic plans, creating clear road maps, and energizing individuals and teams to achieve remarkable performance.
In his recent role as the Chief Marketing Officer for USA Pickleball, the sport’s governing body, George’s responsibilities focused on growing the sport of pickleball by building and executing a comprehensive marketing and brand strategy to broaden the reach, build the brand, and accelerate membership acquisition & retention. His leadership in the marketing, branding, communications, social media, paid campaigns, membership / product development and sponsorships / partnerships / events has been pivotal in helping pickleball become one of the fastest growing sports in America.
George’s prior experience includes over thirteen years in Strategy & Marketing for BP where he ascended to the role of the Head of Marketing for Olympics & Paralympics. There he led the multi-channel, integrated marketing and brand strategy delivering advertising campaigns, digital content, brand communications, promotions and sales collateral across 25,000+ retail outlets and digital and social media channels that increased sales for BP 4% and Castrol 10%.
George has since continued his direction toward athletic based endeavors. He is currently employed as the Chief Revenue Officer for the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site, and he serves on the Board of Directors and Marketing Committee for USA Triathlon.
George exhibits a strong passion for the customer experience and delivering the WOW that grows relationships and loyalty / advocacy for brands and properties. This includes strategy development, creative thinking, finding solutions and delivering a value proposition framework that provides mutual value for all against desires and objectives.
George has a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University & an MBA from Bellarmine University. He currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Dan Engel
Chief Financial Officer
Dan Engel brings 20 years of financial markets experience to his role as CFO for Real Dill® Pickleball Clubs. During his time as a Portfolio Manager for industry leading global firms, he has successfully managed high-performing teams in some of the world’s most dynamic and competitive derivative markets. He has also served in the roles of Chief Compliance Officer, Head of Business Development, and Risk-Manager, in addition to starting and managing his own Broker-Dealer.
Dan’s success in trading and finance have provided him with deep connectivity in Chicago’s investment community. Since leaving the trading industry in 2015 he has been an alternative asset investor and consultant focusing on venture capital, private placement, real estate, and cryptocurrency opportunities with multiple successful investments and risk-management engagements. Most recently Dan has worked as an independent sponsor, sourcing and representing owner-operated firms seeking debt and equity raises for strategic growth acquisitions and targeted expansion.
Dan received his B.A. in Philosophy with an Allied Field in Economics from the University of Chicago, where he was a member of the varsity football team. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Analytic Finance, Economics, and Finance. While at Booth he was on the Dean’s List, received the 2018 Student Ambassador award, and currently sits as a member of the Admissions Committee.
Dan has been a resident of Chicago for twenty-five years. He and his wife Amy live in Lincoln Park with their three young children. He is a lifelong outdoors enthusiast and longtime skier and snowboarder.
Our Proud Partners
