The city will host a community listening and feedback session about its new pickleball facility, to be built on Van Dyke Avenue near 15 Mile Road, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Sterling Heights Community Center. The facility is expected to be open in July 2026.
By: Brian Wells | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published September 12, 2025
STERLING HEIGHTS — The city of Sterling Heights is moving forward with plans for a new pickleball facility.
At its Sept. 2 meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Langlois presented a proposal to purchase property at 35630 Van Dyke Ave., near 15 Mile Road, to construct a new $10 million pickleball facility.
The planned facility will have nine pickleball courts, six tournament-ready table tennis courts, gathering areas with a cafe, meeting and party rooms, locker rooms and other amenities. The facility comes as part of the Pathway to Play and Preservation millage, which was approved by voters in November 2024.
The investment comes in at $9.7 million, $2.5 million of which comes for the purchase of the property and $7.2 million for the design and construction of the facility, Langlois said.
“The community has been eager to learn where this facility would be located, and this site gives us the opportunity to deliver a premier space that combines accessibility, sustainability and quality,” Langlois said in a statement. “We are excited to move this vision forward.”
The property also includes a 37,000-square-foot building, which will be converted into the facility.
However, during the presentation, several residents spoke up, criticizing City Council’s decisions and alleged lack of transparency throughout the process, with several accusing the city of putting the building in an LLC to hide the owner.
While many council members were in support of the facility, Councilman Henry Yanez also questioned the transparency of the process of acquiring the property.
“The taxpayers deserve transparency,” he said.
Despite the allegations, Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor defended the process.
“Why would you own property individually when you can put it in an LLC and protect yourself from personal liability for no cost? It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “The idea that an LLC was created here to somehow shield the identity of the purchaser is certainly not the case.”
Taylor also questioned the allegations of a lack of transparency.
“I haven’t heard what wasn’t transparent. The price is transparent, the owner is transparent, the fact that we voted on this and it passed is transparent,” he said.
Taylor said he felt the new facility will give taxpayers what they voted for and asked for.
“I think it was a good process. I think it got us a great building in a great location, delivering to the taxpayers exactly what they voted for and asked for,” he said. “It’s questions about why are we doing this, is this the right time, is this a fad? It doesn’t matter. The voters voted on it, and we’re going to honor what the voters approved.”
The discussion lasted around an hour and a half. In the end, City Council approved the purchase of the property with six votes to one, with Yanez being the only one to vote against it.
The city will host a community listening and feedback session from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Sterling Heights Community Center. The facility is expected to be open in July 2026.