Bank takes over Wichita Hoops facility, but courts are still open for ‘business as usual’
Wichita Hoops has been through a lot since it started in 2014, particularly with the pandemic, but co-founder Evan McCorry wants people to know its courts are still open and will continue to be. However, Legacy Bank now owns the Bel Aire athletic facility with a dozen sports courts.
“We still control all these clubs,” McCorry said of the sports teams that play at Wichita Hoops.
“We run these businesses, so we would go find another place to play if the sky fell.”
McCorry, Carlos Perez Sr. and his son, former Wichita State University Shockers star Jason Perez, opened the first phase of the facility with six courts for basketball and volleyball and quickly realized they needed more.
Jason Perez left in 2016, which is when his father and McCorry added another six courts along with futsal and pickleball. Around the same time, they also lost their marketing director and lost momentum for booking leagues.
“We got a little bit behind the curve,” McCorry said. He called that year “actually a little bit rough, but since 2016 we’ve been on a pretty high-growth path.”
“We’ve done a lot to get day business. It was a little bit quiet during the day.”
Adults use the pickleball courts, and various schools and organizations play other sports there. The Wichita Wings indoor soccer team offices there, and it also is home base for McCorry’s Air Capital Aces, Team Buddy Buckets and Next Level Eclipse. There’s also a strength training and injury prevention area.
McCorry said that Perez decided for personal reasons he wanted to reduce his ownership stake last year.
“We decided to soft list in the Q4 of 2019,” McCorry said. “We were looking to see if there was interest.”
That included interest in the 116,000-square-foot building, which officially went on the market in January, or in buying Perez’s stake.
“We did have a few offers that were not reasonable,” McCorry said.
He calls the building a $10 million to $12 million asset.
McCorry said Wichita Hoops is one of the nicest facilities in a crowded market for athletic centers in the greater Wichita area, “But it’s a huge elephant.”
COVID strikes
There were some people interested in investing in Wichita Hoops, McCorry said, but then COVID-19 hit.
“COVID hit us hard.”
The facility was forced to close from the second week of March through early May.
“Financially, it’s been a difficult year.”
That’s where the bank comes in.
“There was some pressure from their board to try to make sure we were a performing asset,” McCorry said.
Legacy Bank president and CEO Brad Yaeger didn’t return a call to comment.
“There was no foreclosure,” McCorry said. “We have an arrangement with the bank.”
He said the bank took back the title to the facility, and Wichita Hoops has first right of refusal if anyone else wants to buy it.
“Businesses buy and sell assets all the time,” McCorry said. “People make decisions to lease rather than own.”
Other than that, he said there are no changes.
“We are running our programs as business as usual.”
McCorry said Wichita Hoops is not behind in taxes and continues to make payroll.
“We pay our bills.”
The facility is continuing to book tournaments for the future.
Though McCorry said there may be a few too many courts in the area, he said each brings something different and that Wichita Hoops is not suffering due to competition.
“We all operate pretty well in our space.”
He said no one currently playing at Wichita Hoops is in danger of losing a place to play.
“That’s not going to happen.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2020, 4:47 AM.
