A new private tennis campus is coming to Wellington with a Mediterranean architectural theme and a unique design that seeks to fit well with the character of the village. Wellington’s Architectural Review Board approved elevations, colors and materials for the proposed facility at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The former preschool location at the southwest corner of Greenbriar Blvd. and Ousley Farms Road will be turned into a private tennis campus with indoor and outdoor courts. Former professional tennis player Betsy McCormack and coach Rodrigo Nascimento, owners of R&B Sports, hope to develop tennis skills in young athletes.
On the four-acre site, the partners will be building two indoor tennis courts, six outdoor tennis courts and four glass-walled padel courts. The site will have a two-story clubhouse with locker rooms, a fitness area, a café and office space with a nearly 17,000-square-foot indoor sports facility. The entire building will have a Mediterranean architectural style with brown and off-white colors.
“The challenging part of this building was clearly how do we get an indoor tennis court inside a building that fits within Wellington and the architecture and the neighborhood,” said Keith Spina, CEO of the architecture firm Spina O’Rourke + Partners. “We looked at a lot of different options, and at the end of the day, we chose what we thought was most effective in a variety of ways.”
Nascimento said the project has been in the works for more than a decade. The club is intended to be private, but the campus team will work to welcome as many young athletes as they can, he added.
“We want to give back everything that we’ve always gotten back to the kids,” Nascimento said. “Our main focus is going to be the kids. It’s going to be open for everyone, but we want to change kids’ lives.”
The board praised the applicants for their application and aesthetic designs. They said they are excited to see what this type of investment can do for the community.
“I appreciate the investment and vision you have to bring this to Wellington,” Board Member John Greene said. “It’s a stunning piece of architecture. It’s just nice when we get some good stuff in front of us.”
The board unanimously approved the site’s elevations, colors and materials. Developers expect to break ground on the property in December.
In other business, the board also approved the elevations, materials and building heights for several buildings in Village Landing, formerly known as K-Park.
Developers from Related Ross began construction on the project earlier this year and are creating a mixed-use, walkable commercial and pedestrian plaza off State Road 7. The site is expected to have dozens of retail and restaurant businesses along with office space and a hotel. “This is not a monolithic 83 storefronts,” explained David Manfredi, CEO and founding principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects. “They are different. They have an organic quality, and our goal is to create a village center that’s very walkable.”
Other than their approval on building heights, board members voted 4-2 to limit the maximum height of a construction fence to eight feet.
“I think it is going to be a big change for this community in a positive way,” Greene said. “We don’t have a main street in Wellington… I’m very excited to have a place — a piazza — where the community can gather and residents can hang out.”
