Publications
Partners
- Balwin Properties plans to develop six padel courts, four of them covered, at the Mall of Africa.
- The padel development will also feature recovery facilities that include a sauna, ice plunge pools and hyperbaric technology.
- Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the world, with SA proving no exception.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Keen on some padel and maybe even a sauna and cold plunge to make you feel on top of the world after shopping up a storm?
Well, customers at Mall of Africa - which is majority-held by Attacq Properties - will soon have six roof-top padel courts, an infra-red sauna and ice plunge pools at their disposal when they pop in to get that must-have dress or some groceries.
The unusual development, which is the brainchild of Balwin Properties’ newly formed padel division Balwin Padel, and is being built with funding from a private consortium of investors, will officially launch in early September with a padel tournament.
Explaining the rationale behind involvement in this latest padel development, Balwin Properties CEO Steve Brookes said padel was the fastest-growing sport in the world, with strong demand for courts here in SA to satisfy the public's appetite for a relatively unchallenging sport.
Said Brookes:
Balwin previously noted in a statement that padel, which was introduced to SA in late 2020, boasted more than 100 000 players nationwide through the Playtomic platform. Balwin's chief of padel, Sebastian Brokmann, said SA had 400 courts, with the potential to increase this to about 2 500 courts.
Branding potential
Balwin says it recognises the strong branding and marketing potential associated with sports, with Brookes citing the recent example of former football stars David Beckham and Thierry Henry teaming up for a Lay’s advert.
"If you look at the world at the moment, the whole world is a fast-changing place and particularly the corporate environment and what clients are looking for. The association with sport has become exceptionally powerful."
Brookes said even before the official launch of Balwin Padel in November last year - when the company became involved in an international padel tournament at its Thaba Eco Lifestyle Estate with R375 000 in prize money up for grabs - the group had already decided to become more involved in sport:
This came on the back of an "exceptional amount of work" in greening residential projects, he said.
Brookes said the Mall of Africa development would open in the first week of September with the abovementioned padel tournament, with four covered and two open-air courts on offer to patrons.
The development - which will be home to the Balwin Padel Club - will also boast recovery facilities that include the latest cryo technology to blast players with liquid nitrogen to help them recover, as well as an infra-red sauna and ice plunge pools. An additional facility at the Mall of Africa development will provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
These recovery facilities were going to be an important drawcard for patrons, Brookes noted.
Balwin has plans to roll out padel courts in other residential projects in which it is involved, where there is space to cater for them. By early 2025, it hopes to have opened 21 new courts, which include the six going up at Mall of Africa.
Four additional courts will also be developed at the group’s Thaba Eco Lifestyle Estate in Johannesburg South at the end of April to complement the two already there, while courts will also be opened at other Balwin developments including Munyaka at Waterfall City, Izinga Smart City in Durban and Mooikloof in Pretoria.
All these developments have external lifestyle centres that are open to the public on a membership basis.
