Neighbors after Zlatan's planned padel club: ”People are moving out”
Padel Zenter is expanding and wants to establish a new headquarter in northern Stockholm.
This has led to a long-running conflict with the neighbors in the area. Now it looks like the conflict has come to an end.
Padel Alto´s Swedish sister site, PadelDirekt, has previously written about the conflict between the company Padel Zenter, in which Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a co-owner and the neighbors to Padel Zenter´s planned headquarters in northern Stockholm - regarding a planned construction of a padel club there.
The idea is to build a head office combined with padel courts in the same building. The new club will contain 14 courts on two floors, and the facility measures 7,175 square meters.
— We appealed but did not get enough support. Now we have tried to go through it all again. We have also had a dialogue with the municipality, which does not listen to us, says the neighbor Erica Carlsson.
What are you dissatisfied with about the planned club?
— This is not just about the height of the hall. It will be a giant colossus that lands on a small patch of grass. It will darken a large part of the area. We have done sun measurements, and the sun will disappear completely for most of the apartments. We live in a country where we are not spoiled with hours of sunshine. The view from everyone's balcony will be a dark wall. It's about 10 meters from the balconies to the wall of the planned center.
Erica Carlsson turns to the traffic situation and develops his argument:
— I am concerned that there will be accidents with collisions due to the increased traffic.
Can't this be a meeting place for people in the area?
— Nobody will be happier than me if people play sports and feel good. But I find it difficult to call it a popular sport because on the one hand, it is expensive and on the other hand I feel that it is a certain type of people who play.
People from different cultures will not interact with each other just because there is a padel center here.
What is the mood like right now among the neighbors?
— This will mean depreciation for everyone's homes. People are moving out now. I estimate half have already moved out. It's abandoned. We've tried the best we can.
Thomas Sandström, CEO of Padel Zenter, has previously commented on the neighbors' concerns to the Swedish site Sportbladet:
— It goes without saying. We have wanted to do this from the beginning, and I stand by that. Then everyone has the right to have their opinion, I have no problem with that. You have to respect that. It's everyone's right to appeal," he says.
It is not yet clear when the construction of the big project will start, but Erica Carlsson would like to send a final greeting to Padel Zenter.
— We are happy to have a dialogue with the company. We are not angry but sadder and resigned. It's great that companies are investing, but there must be a better place than this place. I'm worried about the safety aspect that there will be accidents in the area when there is so much traffic, Carlsson concludes.
