Sanford to get indoor pickleball complex near Seminole Towne Center

A vacant JOANN fabric store beside Seminole Towne Center is being converted into a Diadem Pickleball Complex with 11 smart courts and two simulators, a fresh test of whether a sports amenity can do more than fill empty space and actually pull shoppers back into Sanford’s retail core. Work was already underway on the former big-box site, and signs outside the building pointed to a “coming soon” opening for the indoor facility.

The project lands in the middle of a much larger redevelopment push around the mall. The Ardent Companies bought 76 acres of the Seminole Towne Center site for $17 million in March 2025, then won city approval for a broader mixed-use overhaul that includes a 164,585-square-foot Costco planned for the former Macy’s site. Demolition is expected to begin in spring 2026, and the full transformation has been described as a three- to four-year project. Ardent has said the new store is expected to bring 12,000 cars a day to the property, a sign that the company is banking on steady traffic returning to a site that has struggled for years.

That is why the pickleball complex matters. It is not just another recreation option in a county already crowded with entertainment choices. It is a reuse strategy for a vacant commercial shell, one that could help keep people on the property longer and create more spillover for nearby restaurants, shops and service businesses. Diadem’s booking platform is built around that kind of activity, offering open play, clinics, leagues, socials and events through its PlayByPoint system. The company is signaling that this will be a modern, tech-forward facility, not just a few indoor courts with paddles and netting.

The timing fits a sport that has exploded nationwide. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association said 24.3 million people played pickleball in the United States in 2025, a 479% jump since 2020. Indoor courts also make practical sense in Florida, where heat, rain and stormy weather can interrupt outdoor play. For Seminole County, that means the new facility could capture demand year-round while giving residents another reason to stay and spend close to home.

Seminole Towne Center itself opened in 1995 as a 1.14-million-square-foot mall at the junction of Interstate 4, State Road 417 and State Road 429. Its decline accelerated during the Great Recession and again during the pandemic, making the arrival of a pickleball complex part of a broader effort to redefine what the property can be. In that context, the former JOANN space is more than a tenant change. It is another wager that the mall district can still be rebuilt around something people want to visit.