Pickleball concept could take over Louisville’s long-languishing ex-Sam’s Club location

LOUISVILLE — The long-shuttered Sam’s Club building in Louisville, which has hosted church services for nearly a decade, could be transformed into a pickleball and food hall concept called Relish.

Parcel O Productions LLC, the company behind Relish, has applied to the city for a business assistance incentive package — essentially a reduction in taxes and fees — to make 79,000 square feet of the 127,000-square-foot retail building on 550 S. McCaslin Boulevard into a sports and hospitality “community hub” with eight food stalls and 17 pickleball courts, Louisville documents show. 

Relish expects to spend about $11.7 million on building and signage improvements, and projects sales tax payments to the city of $770,500.

The incentives application, which city staffers have recommended for approval, seeks $445,265.54 in total incentives over five years. That total comes from 50% reductions in building-permit fees and construction use tax, signage-permit fees and taxes and retail sales tax. 

Relish, which could be open as early as winter 2024, expects to have 16 full-time employees and as many as 15 part-time employees when it opens, city documents show.

Pickleball, which is similar to tennis but with a smaller court and different rackets and balls, has taken the country by storm, with live events on television and venues sprouting up like weeds. In addition to outdoor courts at many public parks, there are several indoor pickleball facilities in the region, including the Pickleball Food Pub in Westminster and Boulder Pickleball in Boulder. 

“Relish has indicated that they are familiar with some of the challenges of this location, but are committed to making it work and activating the space,” city documents said.

Walmart Inc.-operated (NYSE: WMT) Sam’s Club closed its Louisville membership superstore in late 2010, leaving a gaping retail hole along McCaslin Boulevard and in the city’s coffers, which relied on the store to generate nearly $500,000 in annual sales tax revenue. 

About four years later, the store and the roughly 13 acres it sits on were sold to Centennial Valley Investment LLC and Seminole Land Holdings Inc. for $3.65 million.

Soon after the transaction, Ascent Community Church took over a small portion of the square footage for Sunday services, but a permanent tenant for the entirety of the space has been elusive for more than a decade.