Money-growing: Tennis Courts Under Roof

But while a game of golf with a business partner is not yet common in the Moscow Region, given the shortage of plots of land and due to national traditions, tennis courts have long become an inseparable part of countryside life. Indoor tennis courts are open even during winter months.

“Tennis has always been a game for the privileged, both in Europe and Russia. Today, the game is stably popular with businessmen. That is why construction of indoor courts, offering maximum comfort to the players, is an inseparable part of sports and leisure zones within upscale countryside communities,” says Maria Letinetskaya, head of out-of-town real estate at Blackwood.

While construction of tennis courts requires at least 10 times less space than golf courses, tennis is just as enjoyable and good for health, she says.

Origins of Tennis Passion

Rapid development of tennis courts in Russia began in the 1990s. “Ever since the development of countryside residential communities began in this country tennis courts very soon became popular with investors and developers,” says Inna Budnikova, spokesperson for the realty Domostroi. “Compounds providing such facilities sell better, besides tennis courts easily blend with any architectural concept.” Boris Yeltsin’s passion for the game, too, has played an important role in expansion of tennis courts across the countryside, she adds. Many politicians and businessmen were keen on sharing the first Russian president’s hobby.

Andrei Fedaka, deputy general director at Vesco Group, agrees. In the early days of the market tennis courts were built mainly in upscale compounds along the prestigious Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse. Playing tennis was a sign indicating a high social status; entrepreneurs invited their partners for a game of tennis often viewed as a form of business communication. While in the West business issues are often discussed during a game of golf in Russia it is hardly possible, our climate being one of the reasons, he notes.

“In central Russia weather is good for golf only in the course of 3 to 5 months per year. Courses are beautifully covered with snow for almost six months. Besides, residential development near golf courses is restricted. Homes must be either built at a considerable distance from courses so that balls could not reach them or they should be placed in such a manner so that residents feel safe,” says Nina Reznichenko, head of out-of-town real estate at IntermarkSavills.

That is why countryside developers have opted for indoor tennis courts as part of sports and leisure facilities provided by their projects. “Tennis is a pair game, which is convenient for informal business communication. Secondly, tennis is quite prestigious, given the high cost of gear,” says Andrei Fedaka. “One of the indisputable advantages is that the rules of the game are fairly easy and skills are easy to master. Tennis is still popular in Russia both because traditions die hard and it offers an opportunity to combine communication with sports”.

Rigid Requirements

Regardless of the class of the countryside compound where they are situated tennis courts are to meet a set of uniform requirements. “The standard total area of a tennis court is 36x18 meters including zones outside the baselines. Indoor courts are usually covered with hard surface, sometimes clay. Hard surfaces are “fast”, they are made of several layers of acrylic polymers, mixed with silica sand as a filler material, - the best choice for hard-serving players,” Taras Nechiporenko, general director at Farm House, explains.

Players move around the hard court fast but legs get tired soon, it’s like running on asphalt or a rubber track. Hard surfaces are the fastest, comprising several acrylic layers placed on a concrete or asphalt foundation. “Softer hard is better for legs but slower,” Maria Litinetskaya adds.

“The choice of a surface depends largely on the developer’s budget. It is possible to use resilient acrylic filler layers, which however have low durability, rubber roll coatings or inexpensive hard coating. The best are filler coatings as they comprise 3 to 13 acrylic resins and make it possible to vary the speed of the game. The size of the court within a countryside compound is usually set by the developer upon consulting a specialized organization,” Fedaka adds.

The height of ceilings is subject to certain restrictions. Andrei Fedaka says that ceilings in an indoor tennis facility must measure at least 5 to 6 meters, ideally 10 to 13 m. Builders seeking to save on quality of court surface and ceiling height are likely to come up with a court reminiscent of a coffin, says Valeria Rodionova, head of Na Solyanke branch of the Novy Gorod company. Saving on design solutions will not pay back either. “Quite often developers of indoor tennis courts use prefabricated structures, even hangars. Usually, such technologies are used for construction of warehouses. But such developments are not very attractive, aesthetically, of course,” she says.

Courts Differ

“An indoor tennis court is a complicated engineering installation, which, however, does not require a large territory. That is why indoor courts are rarely built as freestanding structures; rather they are included in multifunctional sports complexes. Building an indoor court is much more expensive than an open-air facility. However, indoor courts are open for tennis fans all year round regardless of weather conditions and time of the day,” Inna Budnikova says.

Just as the case is with any other sports facility, the cost of equipping an indoor court varies depending on structure, quality of surface and quantity of equipment, she says. But at any rate the developer should put in heating systems to maintain a comfortable temperature regime during cold months, ventilation and lighting equipment.

Some developers seek to minimize those costs by introducing high-end technologies which close any court with the help of air-inflated structures. “That structure constitutes a flexible shell, with air supplied constantly inside. It may be raised and dismantled many times, so in summer you will have an open-air court and in winter it will be covered,” says Maria Letinetskaya.

Irina Budnikova adds such HVAC systems installed in such courts maintain optimal internal pressure levels. “Thanks to modern materials and technologies those structures can bear snow and other loads of up to 90 kg per 1sqm,” she says. Such structures meet several general technical parameters. Experts say that the foundation for an air-inflated structure is a mat footing measuring 50x70cm on average with embedded elements for fixing the dome.

Internal lighting is provided with metal-halide or day-light lamps. Tennis facilities are often heated with gas, diesel fuel or hot water. Air-inflated facilities require installation of an additional power generating unit to prevent the dome from collapsing in case of power outage. To minimize costs developers often order air-inflated structures of large sizes so as to house at least four courts.

Sometimes developers opt for construction of an open-air frame tents covered with durable PVC material. “Durability and load bearing properties of such installations are better than the case is with air-inflated structures, the maximum snow load is up to 120 kg per 1sqm,” says Irina Budnikova.

But regardless of the type of the roof, an open-air court cannot be converted into a full-fledged indoor facility mainly because of the lack of necessary auxiliary spaces. “A roofed court built of stationary carcass provides certain amenities, checkrooms, shower rooms and equipment storages,” Litinetskaya notes. Valeria Rodionova notes that the attempts simply to “cover” an open-air court may create serious problems for players. “Unfortunately, I have seen such prefabricated courts where there are problems with ventilation and heating. Those spaces are cold in winter and hot in summer. Besides, there is nowhere to take a shower, no adequate checkrooms are available. Those matters are often ignored,” she says.

Money Issues

The development of tennis courts in out-of-town residential compounds requires huge spending. Litinetskaya puts the cost of construction of an open-air facility at $20,000 to $25,000. An indoor structure is worth over $100,000. Besides, tennis courts require regular maintenance, which may run into $15,000 to $20,000 annually. Thus, construction of tennis courts in small and inexpensive compounds is not viable. “For large prime projects an indoor tennis court is a good addition to leisure facilities. The cost of the court is so low compared to the total cost of the project that there is no need to worry about the payback,” Litinetskaya says.

“A freestanding indoor tennis court costs $100,000 to $200,000 depending on the size and choice of construction materials,” says Andrei Fedaka. “Building the same facility as part of a sports complex within a countryside settlement is much cheaper, $20,000 to $25,000.” Needless to say, the developer shifts all those costs to tenants. “The cost of maintenance of a tennis court is included in the cost of operation of all amenities available on the site. Monthly payments per household stand at $120 to $150 in economy-class compounds, $150 to $250 in business-class settlements and at least $250 to $300 in prime communities,” Fedaka says.

Residents of countryside compounds are forced to assume indoor court maintenance costs in full, as those facilities are closed to outsiders, which property analysts explain by the laws of the market and customers’ wishes. “So far the market sees no need in opening tennis courts to outsiders. Moscow has specialized facilities for professional and semiprofessional players; the Moscow Region has enough open-air courts and indoor facilities in countryside compounds,” Andrei Fedaka says.

Inna Budnikova says that any gated community observes basic security principles; the territory is fenced off, a special checkpoint is installed at the gate. “People feel comfortable as long as outsiders are not allowed to enter their compound, and they have confidence in their neighbours. Free access for outsiders would violate their security. Also, residents would hardly be happy to see their cozy compound turn into a public thoroughfare,” the expert says. Hence, the limited access to tennis courts within countryside settlements – only the residents and their guests are allowed to use the facilities. That is why such indoor courts are never used as venues for tennis competitions.

The only concession developers are ready to make is to turn a tennis court into a mixed-use facility. “A tennis court may serve as a universal sports ground – for example it may be redesigned as a volleyball or soccer pitch,” says Konstantin Cherkayev says. Operators do so in compounds where local residents show little interest in the game of tennis. It is also possible to open a tennis school for the residents, Fedaka says. “A less radical means of making the indoor tennis court pay is to charge players for using the ground,” says Inna Budnikov. “The operator may hire good coaches and organize paid training sessions.” Incidentally, famous tennis player Andrei Cherkasov is employed by one of such countryside schools.

Locations

“Indoor tennis courts are built in prime communities as well as economy compounds. As a rule they form a part of mixed-use sports complexes operating within the majority of countryside settlements. Such practice is quite common on the market. Some of those facilities may be redesigned, if needed, as tennis courts,” Andrei Fedaka says.

The PSK 21 Vek company is currently building an indoor court in the economy residential compound Polyanka, 17 km from MKAD on Yaroslavskoye Shosse. “Another economy class compound is Fominskoye, 15 km from MKAD on Kaluzhskoye Shosse. Sports facilities available there are not very multifarious but nevertheless the project features a sports and leisure center providing a fitness club, restaurants, bowling alleys, a swimming pool and a tennis court. The project was built by the companies Belos and Yakhont,” he says.

The company Chastny Dom is building a compound Uspensky Les, at 25th km of Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse, with a tennis court planned as part of a fitness center. The upscale gated community Velich, 39 km Novorizhskoye Shosse, provides an indoor tennis court on the premises of the sports and leisure complex. Vau!Tutinki compound provides tennis courts as part of a multifunctional sports complex. Maria Litinetskaya says that indoor tennis courts are also planned in major projects Rezidentsii Benelux, Agalarov Village and Svetlogorie.

Target Audience

The high cost and complexity of construction, long paybacks on courts that are closed to outsiders force many developers to abandon the idea. “Indoor tennis courts are superfluous. Construction costs are high; their maintenance, too, will require huge spending. Suffice it to recall the size of those properties and power capacity required for their heating and lighting. And it is by no means a fact that all buyers of countryside homes are tennis fans. It transpires that we force everyone to pay for the service but not all of them will use it. In our settlement Grafskiye Prudy we placed emphasis on other active sports. We have many fields which may be used for snowmobile driving,” says Zhanna Potapkina, head of sales at Alltek Development.

“Even though tennis is popular it is absolutely unnecessary to build tennis courts in every compound. For example, in an economy class settlement that would not be appropriate as buyers of inexpensive homes are attracted chiefly by moderate prices,” Inna Budnikova agrees. “The more facilities are available the higher are the monthly charges, which may scare off buyers.” In small closed communities with only 20 households a tennis court would stand idle most of the time, she adds.

Availability of a tennis court in a compound speaks rather for its prestige than for a well thought out concept, experts agree. But such projects continue to mushroom across the countryside even though Russia’s top politicians are mastering other sports these days. “Tennis has found its niche and due to several reasons it is possible to assume that it will remain popular in the future. Our athletes’ victories also contribute to that,” says Yevgeny Ivanov, managing director at Usadba.

“The number of compounds providing tennis courts is quite stable. Courts constitute one of the most common leisure facilities along with bathhouses and saunas, sports gyms, restaurants and entertainment zones,” says Andrei Fedaka. But he anticipates a change in format of tennis courts. In particular, he says in the future sports facilities will operate outside compounds and will be open to the public.

“The optimal solution is to adopt the Western scheme of countryside development where sports and leisure facilities are situated on major roads and are open to everyone. We have already seen a sufficient number of shops raised on prestigious highways, time has come for the sports infrastructure,” Nina Reznichenko assumes.