A two-story pickleball complex is currently being built on a nearly six-acre property located at 152 Evans Lane as the next step in developing Chubbuck’s proposed downtown.

The pursuit for a downtown area began with Chubbuck’s new city hall which was completed four years ago. Joshua Ellis, who’s spearheading the construction of the complex, submitted a proposal to the Chubbuck Development Authority and negotiated pricing and other details before preparing the foundation for the complex in late June.

“It’s the fastest growing sport in the country,” Ellis said. “It’s not just the older ages, you’re starting to see collegiate, professionals (and) high school (players). It’s moving down. It’s growing.”

The complex will include the two-story pickleball building with 10 professional sized indoor courts in addition to three five-story mixed-use buildings with retail on first floor, three levels of condos and rooftop commercial venues. In order to complete the project, both Evans Lane and Linden Avenue were widened and an additional road connecting the two streets is being constructed.

A family-fun center is also in the works for the property. The entire project is being privately financed by The Bank of Commerce. No city tax dollars or city funding are involved according to Ellis.

“We’ll be doing things that oftentimes people leave this area to go to tournaments in Twin Falls, to go to tournaments in Boise, to go to tournaments in Logan,” Ellis said. “We’ll be able to host those tournaments here. We will rival what oftentimes people leave this area to do.”

Additionally, condos will be built along with commercial rooftop venues and restaurants.

“Then you’ll be able to look out over the whole valley,” Ellis said. “With that, then we’ll create an ambience where we’ll have patio seating areas with fire pits, and again, things that you oftentimes see in other areas, we can build that. We can have that here.”

Ellis and his family have been building and developing in the Pocatello/Chubbuck area for as long as he can remember. After being introduced to pickleball through his son’s friends, he noticed how tennis courts were transforming into pickleball courts.

“Some kids grew up on a farm, I grew up on a construction site,” Ellis said. “This is me just seeing a need and then trying to fill that need and create something that the community can do and can have fun (with).”

The entire project will be taking place over the next four to five years according to Ellis, but the pickleball courts are slated to be built and operating by early 2026.

“This valley is changing, it’s growing,” Ellis said. “It’s doing things so that we can continue to enjoy what we’ve always enjoyed but (with) our kids and grandkids.”