Orlando’s International Drive is about to get a new kind of clubhouse, one built around padel, pickleball, and cocktails instead of golf carts and dress codes. Society Park, billed as a compact “Gen Z country club,” is slated to take over part of the former Wyndham resort near Sand Lake Road, with developers eyeing a soft opening in April 2026. The plan is to blend courts, two restaurants, a pro shop, and an on-site spa into a spot that can host serious tournaments by day and laid-back hangs by night.
Society Park lists 15 state-of-the-art padel courts and shows renderings of a roughly 2.2-acre footprint. Developer Unicorp, however, describes a 2.4-acre layout with nine padel courts, an exhibition court, two children’s courts, and three pickleball courts. The mismatch suggests the finer points of design and permitting are still being hammered out behind the scenes.
What you’ll find inside
Developers say the tight-but-packed complex will fold in two full-size restaurants alongside a country-club style membership model, a pro shop, an on-site spa, and space for both corporate groups and tournament play. As WhatNow has reported, the sales pitch even leans into “après padel cocktails” and a menu lineup focused on elevated, locally driven food rather than basic bar bites.
Why padel is a bet
Padel’s recent growth curve in the U.S. helps explain why developers are willing to gamble on a court-heavy concept in the middle of tourist country. A national directory compiled by Padel Dynasty shows the number of courts jumping from roughly 180 in 2022 to about 454 in 2023, a surge that has investors racing to build new venues. Visit Orlando has already folded Society Park into its list of 2026 openings, framing it as part of a broader push to give I-Drive more to offer beyond theme parks and chain restaurants.
Where it fits on I-Drive
Society Park is slated for a corner of the larger 8001 International Drive redevelopment, a project that also includes a new InterContinental hotel. Unicorp says the venue will cover about 2.4 acres, with Build Ventures handling construction and Moxie Brands steering brand strategy, and is targeting a soft opening in April 2026, according to Unicorp.
Renderings show a modern, container-park-inspired look, and developers say they plan to bring in local restaurant concepts instead of national chains. There are no operator names or menus on the table yet, per WhatNow, so expect a slow drip of permitting updates, operator reveals, and membership details as that April 2026 target gets closer.
