Local Realtor Granot Serves Up Aces in Pickleball

Dan Granot co-runs a boutique commercial real estate firm alongside Alan Joel. They work both sides of the real estate coin: tenants looking to move, landlords, retail investment, purchasing buildings with investors, office, medical and industrial sectors, all to seek balance in these roller coaster markets.

Mimicking Clark Kent away from the desk and phone, Granot is ranked near the top 10 in the U.S. in his senior division for pickleball.

In terms of his day job at Joel & Granot, Granot said, “Our company had a strong last 12 months given the current climate. We have represented numerous professional services firms who seem to have come back into the office a little quicker than other sectors and have also represented a significant number of owner/users who have bought or sold property.”

Finding oneself in a pickle of a market, Granot is also known for his fierce prowess in pickleball. He said, “I try to play five to six times a week, mostly at sunrise for 90 minutes, then play a little longer on weekends. I try to play approximately one tournament a month somewhere around the country. I see more seniors playing, but also incredible growth in the younger generation. Overall, it’s a very social and welcoming sport.”

At 56 years old, Granot competes in the Senior Pro Division. He has played approximately nine tournaments in 2022 and hovers around No. 10 in the country in both doubles and mixed doubles. He won three senior pro events in Plantation and Boca Raton, Fla., and Philadelphia. He considers his strength to be “quick hands and good anticipation which likely came from years of competitive tennis. I wouldn’t consider myself a power player, but more so depend on accuracy and misdirection,” he mused.

And, yes, Granot wins prize money listed, which ultimately must be split many ways. He eschews singles tournaments for their three consecutive days of rigorous wear and tear.

Granot’s background was grounded in tennis. He initially resisted and recalled, “I had jokingly heard that pickleball was the last racket sport people played before they died. Once I played the first time, I was hooked. The game involves hand eye coordination and is very social…pickleball is more like tennis and table tennis as they’re no walls to contend with; and squash, racquetball and paddle are more similar for the same reasons.”

Why pickleball has recently become so popular:
• The barriers to enter are low. The equipment is inexpensive, a paddle, balls and a portable net cost a couple hundred dollars. (Granot himself plays with an Onix Evoke Premier paddle and a Dura Fast 40 ball. He wears Babolat pickleball shoes.)
• The skill level needed to enjoy the sport is minimal. Whether you are an ex-tennis player, an athlete of any kind or a non-athlete, it is very easy to hit a plastic ball against a paddle from a few feet away across a net with your friend/opponent.
• The workout itself can be as challenging or not, as desired.
• Injuries do occur in pickleball as they would in any racquet sport especially when playing competitively or when not properly warmed up. Granot’s only serious pickleball injury was a ruptured Achilles tendon from which he fully recovered.

Atlanta currently can’t build courts quickly enough to satisfy demand. Many subdivisions are either converting tennis courts to pickleball courts or having courts serve a dual purpose. The MJCC and Sandy Springs Tennis Center are very popular. The Painted Pickle is constructing a facility in midtown among many others.

Pivoting to look forward with his real estate racquet, Granot concluded, “The Atlanta commercial real estate market is currently trying to find its way. Some sectors have never been healthier such as industrial, multifamily and even retail has come back strong.

“The jury is still out regarding office space as many buildings are still healthy from a leasing perspective; but as leases begin to roll, companies will continue analyzing how they will handle their employees’ requests to work virtually, in a hybrid environment or demand that they return full force to the office. Every company will likely handle differently.”