At 3200 Larimer St., paddles are replacing wine glasses.
Denverites Will Lake and Alexandra Hansen are set to debut a pickleball and bar/café concept at the former home of the Infinite Monkey Theorem in RiNo. The spot, called Doubles Club, hopes to open this summer.
Lake and Hansen, both 32, said most pickleball-specific places are a drive outside of the city, so having a downtown, walkable outlet is crucial for central Denver players.
“Nothing quite like ours exists yet in an area that has a lot of housing and a lot of young professionals,” Hansen said.
Lake and Hansen’s four pickleball courts will live in IMT’s former manufacturing space, and the bar and café, which will serve drinks and grab-and-go items, will be in the winery’s old taproom. The pair are also building out a patio in front of the building, where patrons can step outside after a hard-fought match.
The goal is to attract players of all levels and also people just wanting to hang out and socialize.
“We hope to merge those two groups, and I think pickleball is a perfect sport to do that,” Lake said. “Itap easy to meet people, the games are short. Depending how intense you’re looking for, you could play with beer in hand.”
Players can sign up for a court and “drop in,” Hansen said, and she and Lake plan on getting leagues going in the months after they open. Hansen said it will cost $15 to drop in and play for up to two hours. The two friends also will offer memberships and special introductory pricing closer to the opening date, they said.
The facility also will be available for rent, and they expect to host many birthday parties and corporate events.
“We’re trying to make it competitive and accessible but also acknowledge you’re in an urban, walkable neighborhood,” Hansen said.
She and Lake met in 2021 playing in a Volo volleyball league and noted the camaraderie created by recreation. They’ve been talking about opening something around pickleball since 2023 and saw RiNo as a key neighborhood. Both live in Five Points and are from the Midwest.
The pair said the build-out for Doubles Club will cost $80 per square foot and they’re financing the project with a Small Business Administration loan. They signed a five-year lease for the 20,000 square feet, but it took awhile to get possession of it because of a dispute between the building owner and an IMT investor over the winery’s equipment. That case has since closed, according to court filings.
“We found this property last spring, so that back-and-forth bought us time to work on our financing and build out our plans around the specific space,” Hansen said.
Hansen’s background is in nonprofit community development, which she said will help on the event side. Lake’s background is in engineering, with some hospitality experience from his college days.
Hansen was skeptical of the sport when her parents introduced her years ago but quickly fell in love. Lake came to pickleball through friends and soon after was playing three or four days a week, he said.
“I feel like thatap such a shared experience for people in their 20s and 30s in Denver,” Lake said. “That blend of an activity and a social space is not only really popular but what grounds a lot of friend groups and communities.”
Lake and Hansen’s spot won’t be the only alcohol-turned-sports space coming to RiNo this year. Ace Padel is coming to Great Divide’s former Barrel Bar off Brighton Boulevard. But that racquet sport concept is more high end.
”There are some that lean more luxury and others that lean more recreational,” Hansen said of the current pickleball market. “We want to find that sweet spot and become a neighborhood staple.”
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