LABC Inside Photos

**Bubbles** · 01-14-2010, 12:09 AM

I got to go inside and take some photos, so here goes, it will be done in about 2 months?

***kwun*** · 01-14-2010, 12:11 AM

wow. that's probably the nicest badminton club in the US. thanks for sharing.

**Bubbles** · 01-14-2010, 12:29 AM

yup, will get more photos if the owner lets me take more.....I think however the biggest club is the 29 court Bintang in South SF but it's not done yet. But in terms of VIP and premium equipment I have to hand it to LABC.

**Joseph** · 01-14-2010, 02:22 PM

I also think that also looks to be a very nice badminton club. I especially like the 2nd and 3rd floor glass.

**sr71bb** · 01-14-2010, 04:29 PM

that place looks sexy, my new home, well that's if it's not to $$$$$

wonder if the us open will be held there, would be nice

**ctjcad** · 01-16-2010, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by Bubbles

I got to go inside and take some photos, so here goes, it will be done in about 2 months?

(thanks for sharing the pics; did you take them recently?)..
..let's hope it'll really be done in couple months..

I passed by the facility y'day and almost didn't recognize it.

They've cleared the construction barrier so one could see the exterior of the building in its full glory.
The hall is as large if not slightly larger than OCBC. However, the ceiling is much higher, possibly as high as the one @ SGVBC. With that in mind, the flight of the shuttles could be slightly slower.

Originally Posted by kwun

wow. that's probably the nicest badminton club in the US. thanks for sharing.

..and that's before the flooring, mats and nettings are done..

Originally Posted by sr71bb

that place looks sexy, my new home, well that's if it's not to $$$$$

wonder if the us open will be held there, would be nice

- It'll be the 2nd air-conditioned (see ducts) full time baddy facility, besides OCBC, in SoCal, so the fee will reasonably be more.
- It's been mentioned before, but mostly as a side-talk. If not the U.S. Open, they could hold future U.S. Nationals.

**ctjcad** · 01-17-2010, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by govalley

just read worldjournal(Chinese Daily News), says LABC starts it construction on 8/8/08, same date as OG opening ceremony.

http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-la-ne...seq_id=1755175

for those who doesn't read Chinese, Its says total area 38,000sq.ft. 15 courts, 2906 spectator seats, 7,000sq.ft. health training center. building cost 6 million dollars (excluding land cost). expected to complete summer next year

So, I talked with a friend, who is also part of the contractor company and oversaw the project.
The infos he gave me is roughly the same as what's given in the article above.

Total square footage : approx. 36,000 sq. ft.
1st floor (badminton area only) : 27,000 sq. ft. (15 courts)
2nd floor (multi purpose room) : 2,000 sq. ft. (20' x 100')
3rd floor (multi purpose room) : 2,000 sq. ft. (20' x 100')
Outside commercial spaces : about 4,000-5,000 sq. ft.
Finished ceiling height : 39 feet high (supposedly world badminton standard)
As for the final cost : they cut it down to $3.8 mil. (everything, building/construction and contractor cost).

My friend also told me, one of the main reasons why it took abt 4 yrs to finally start the construction was because there were many changes to the proposed design. They took out the L shaped building (on the west end) because there weren't enough parking spaces in the original design.

As for the flooring, he said they've started working on & installing it and should be done within a week or two (cross fingers). He said the total cost to put the entire wood flooring is around $250,000. And since they're using official Yonex mat flooring, the cost for 1 court mat alone is around $9,000 (15 x $9,000= $135,000).

**cooler** · 01-17-2010, 02:24 AM

wonder why they spent 250k for the wood floor and then cover it with yonex mats?

**ctjcad** · 01-17-2010, 02:33 AM

..at OCBC as well. Wood flooring first and then for tournaments, they put on the mats. I'm not sure if the mats @ LABC are installed permanently or not. I know the ones at OCBC can be re-installed and moved around.

**kan2005** · 01-18-2010, 11:37 AM

So, when is the opening date?

**Bubbles** · 01-19-2010, 04:16 AM

ctjcad, they were taken around mid december. Per the owner of LABC as of now the wooden suspension flooring is done. Will update with more pics as soon as I have time. I was suppose to take them last weekend but instead I had to work at the company for some deadlines.

**y'oinks!** · 01-19-2010, 10:34 AM

Great coverage, Bubbles! This place looks HUGE! Can't wait to visit it!

**n3w813** · 01-19-2010, 05:10 PM

I had a chance to speak with the owner of LABC last night at SGVBC. He said the proposed opening date should be in February, if not, first week of March the latest.

He is also thinking about discounted membership pricing for early birds. Membership price for the first 50 members who sign up will be discounted, the next 50 will be discounted a bit less, and so on.

He is very excited the project is near completion, after starting planning about 7 years ago and investing millions of dollars into it.

**ctjcad** · 01-19-2010, 05:21 PM

- The membership plan is similar to ABC's plan when they first opened: Gave discounted membership deal to the first few hundreds of people who sign up.
- If they can offer abt $40/month per member, that'll be a great bargain, because LABC provides A/C (and possibly heater)? On top of suspension wood flooring and Yonex mats.
- If they can hire some FT coaches (which seem rare nowadays), they'll attract more customers. As far as i know, a lot of the full-time coaches are either based in SGVBC or they travel from 1 baddy club to another.
- More competition for sure with 3 different full-time clubs all lined up, within miles, basically along the 10 fwy.