"A community built for people who want to walk to dinner, not drive to it." That is how Lewis Retail Centers describes The Resort, the master-planned village rising in southeast Rancho Cucamonga around Homecoming's apartments and townhomes. It is a fair description. Residents there already have a private pool, a rooftop deck with a fireplace, and a dog park with its own spa. The project breaking ground on September 8 at the corner of Fourth Street and The Resort Parkway is a public restaurant and pickleball venue across from Toyota Arena.
The project is Electric Pickle, a restaurant, bar, and pickleball concept that just started construction on its first location in California. Looking at the project in its setting says more about how this corner of the city actually functions than any amenity list could.
What's Actually Under Construction
The site sits inside The Courtyard, a 31,800-square-foot retail component of The Resort at the corner of Fourth and The Resort Parkway. Electric Pickle will occupy an 8,500-square-foot restaurant with ten pickleball courts, seven of them outdoors and three covered, along with a lawn and multiple bar and lounge areas. Construction is underway now, with an opening targeted for summer 2027.
Ken Caron, senior vice president at Lewis Retail Centers, framed the groundbreaking as a statement about the corridor rather than about the housing around it. "This is exactly the kind of innovative, experience-driven project that elevates a community," Caron said. "We're proud to be breaking ground alongside Electric Pickle and excited about what this partnership will bring to Rancho Cucamonga." He also called the site part of "one of the Inland Empire's most active retail and entertainment corridors," language that reads less like a residential amenity pitch and more like a regional draw.
The One California Address With a Shovel in the Ground
Here is the part that does not show up in the press releases: when Electric Pickle first announced its expansion plan, before its Tempe flagship had even opened, the list of upcoming markets included Las Vegas, Roseville, Katy, Rancho Cucamonga, and Reno. Roseville is a bigger metro with a larger existing retail base. But as of this month's groundbreaking, the company's own locations page lists Rancho Cucamonga as its only announced California site, alongside a second project in Reno. Whatever happened to the Roseville plan, it has not produced a shovel in the ground. Rancho Cucamonga's has.
"Pickleball isn't a trend anymore, it's emerged as a lifestyle, and people are attracted to it the same way they gather around great food." — Ken Caron, Senior Vice President, Lewis Retail Centers, as quoted by ConnectCRE
That is not a small distinction for anyone tracking what gets built where in the Inland Empire. A national brand with a defined multi-market rollout chose to put its actual construction dollars into a corner across from an arena in Rancho Cucamonga before finishing a comparable project in a larger Sacramento-area suburb. The arena across the street is a notable part of the setting.
What Tempe Already Tells You
The Tempe flagship, which opened in January 2025, gives a preview of what is coming. Its own site describes the concept plainly: "It's a restaurant first, the food is top priority." The Tempe menu leans into what founder and co-CEO Paul Frederick calls "polished comfort food," with standout dishes like Seared Ahi at $23, Sticky Short Ribs at $24, and Barbacoa Nachos at $18. Several of the nine Tempe courts run on AI scorekeeping, and the venue pairs pickleball with bocce, golf simulators, and a lawn stage for live music.
AZ Big Media quoted Frederick describing the brand this way: "Electric Pickle is more than just a pickleball venue, it's a charge of energy that ignites camaraderie, competition and relaxation all in one space." The Rancho Cucamonga build is smaller in footprint than the two-story Tempe original, but the format, chef-driven menu anchoring a court-heavy social house, is the same one the company is testing as its template for expansion.
The Building Across the Street
Toyota Arena gives this site a different setting from a strip-mall pad site. The arena seats up to 10,832 for basketball and 9,736 for hockey, with a full-capacity configuration near 11,089. It is home to the Ontario Reign, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, and the Empire Strykers of the Major Arena Soccer League, on top of a steady concert calendar that has drawn acts across genres. Events at the arena bring visitors to the intersection, many of whom arrive by car.
Electric Pickle's site sits directly across from that arena and from the Element by Marriott, the hotel serving the same corridor. Lewis Retail Centers describes the stretch as one of the region's most active retail and entertainment corridors for a reason: it already pulls people in from outside The Resort's own gates. With cabanas and a lawn stage, the planned venue will add another option along a corridor that includes arena events and nearby residences.
A Private Amenity, and a Public One, Three Blocks Apart
The Resort was not lacking pickleball before this groundbreaking. Homecoming's own clubhouse, called The Club, already includes a Sports Zone with pickleball among its games, alongside basketball, ping pong, cornhole, and a rooftop Deck with a fireplace. That amenity exists for residents only, tucked inside a 14,554-square-foot clubhouse built around a beach-entry pool and a Fit and Yoga Studio.
Electric Pickle will be a different animal entirely, open to anyone willing to drive or walk over from the arena lot.
| Homecoming's Sports Zone | Electric Pickle at The Courtyard | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Residents only | Planned to be open to the public |
| Courts | Shared multi-game zone (pickleball among several activities) | 10 dedicated courts, 7 outdoor, 3 covered |
| Setting | Inside a 14,554 sq ft private clubhouse | 8,500 sq ft standalone restaurant in a 31,800 sq ft retail node |
| Draws from | The Resort's own housing | Toyota Arena's event crowd and the surrounding corridor |
| Status | Already operating | Under construction, opening summer 2027 |
That table is the whole story in miniature. The Resort's internal amenities serve residents within the community. What is rising across the street is a planned public venue, rather than a residents-only amenity. Both things can be true of the same neighborhood at the same time, and construction on the public venue began this month.
What This Means If You Live Nearby
If you already live in or near The Resort, the practical upshot is simple: a corner you have probably driven past without much thought is now an active construction site for a restaurant concept the brand itself has only greenlit in a handful of American cities. It will not be finished for close to a year. But the contrast is in construction status: Rancho Cucamonga is underway, while the announced Roseville project has not broken ground. The project is planned as a public venue near the arena, alongside the rooftops around it.
If you are weighing what any of this means for your own plans in Rancho Cucamonga, from a starter purchase near the Metrolink corridor to a move that puts you closer to Toyota Arena's calendar, the team at 1st Class Realty Group knows this stretch of the city block by block. Schedule a free consultation whenever you're ready to talk through what a neighborhood like this actually offers, beyond the headline.
