In West End, Beltline-adjacent warehouse redo starts opening Josh Green Mon, 04/07/2025 - 11:28
A warehouse-conversion project has officially started opening in West End with a concept that boosts local sports and community aspects in Southwest Atlanta, according to business leaders.
Atlanta-based owners of the Dill Dinkers’pickleball franchise have opened a facility with 11 champion-sized courts, adding another adaptive-reuse, West End attraction near the Beltline-connected Lee + White district beyond food, drink, and offices.
The mural-bedecked pickleball space’s grand opening and ribbon-cutting is scheduled April 18. More than 1,000 players, from beginners to experts, recently swung by for a weeklong soft opening.
For its first concept in Georgia, Dill Dinkers has claimed a nearly 36,000-square-foot space at 1200 White St., a former industrial building that’s being remade by Lee + White owners Ackerman & Co. Expect clinics, membership offerings, lessons, leagues, and themed social events, per Dill Dinkers.
Courtesy of Dill Dinkers/Ackerman & Co.
Daniel Hardeman, a Chosewood Park resident and regional franchise developer, said metro Atlanta counts an impressive 1.1 million pickleball players—with a nearly 52 percent year-over-year growth rate.
“There’s a shortage of courts and lack of structure for skills progression, so players are turning to places like Dill Dinkers,” said Hardeman in an announcement. “Add to that spring’s high pollen counts and pending hot weather, and we knew the demand would be high. What we didn’t anticipate was the incredible outpouring of support from the community.”
Future franchise locations are in the works for Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Cherokee counties, per Dill Dinkers reps.
In West End, each court is individually fenced, and other components of the club include a pro shop and events space. The courts feature Dill Dinkers’ Pro Cushion playing surface, which is designed to be easier on players’ joints, per project leaders. The company’s West End location joins others in metro Washington D.C., Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.
Courtesy of Dill Dinkers/Ackerman & Co.
The pickleball complex has claimed only a fraction of the 1200 White St. building, which is being remade into a mixed-use hub with a new extension of the Beltline’s Westside Trail planned beside it.
According to property owners Ackerman & Co., beyond pickleball, the 211,585-square-foot facility is being designed to accommodate restaurants, retail, industrial uses, creative offices, and experiential concepts.
The 1200 White St. office and warehouse building's facade prior to recent renovations. Ackerman & Co.
Speaking of experiential concepts… a couple of blocks south of Dill Dinkers at Lee + White, an interactive experience called The Game Show Challenge is claiming a 3,889-square-foot space. It will be located in Lee + White’s Building 1000, next to Monday Night Brewing and Grady’s new neighborhood health center.
The West End location will mark the third for the gameshow concept, which is aiming to open 30 more over the next five years. (Current locations are in Columbia and Greenville, S.C.) Earlier plans had called for opening Atlanta’s outpost by the end of 2024, but The Game Show Challenge still lists the location as “coming soon.”
Ackerman & Co. and MDH Partners, the development team behind the 11-building Lee + White district, signed another experiential tenant, Atlanta Golf & Social, last summer.
That concept is hosting a grand opening April 12—fittingly, on Masters Week—for its 3,767-square-foot space, joining a flagship location in downtown Chamblee.
Base image via Ackerman & Co.
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Courtesy of Dill Dinkers/Ackerman & Co.
Courtesy of Dill Dinkers/Ackerman & Co.
Base image via Ackerman & Co.
The 1200 White St. office and warehouse building's facade prior to recent renovations. Ackerman & Co.
Ackerman & Co.
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