Just north of LAX, where airplanes soar overhead and thousands of travelers pass through Los Angeles every day, something extraordinary is taking shape. On 34 acres of land next to St. Bernard College Preparatory High School, a sprawling new sports, education and wellness campus is being built with one ambitious goal: to give young people opportunities they might never have imagined possible.
Called Lulu’s Place, the nearly $180 million project will feature 24 tennis courts, soccer fields, basketball courts, a state-of-the-art learning center, wellness facilities and even a dog park with an ocean view. But the real heart of the project is the belief that every child, regardless of their family’s income or ZIP code, deserves to discover their full potential.
“We will unlock extraordinary opportunities for young people by expanding access to exceptional experiences in sports, wellness, and learning,” says Patrick Mahoney, CEO of Lulu’s Place.
With construction well underway and programming expected to begin in summer 2027, Lulu’s Place promises to become one of Playa del Rey’s most exciting new community resources.
A Legacy of Love
Behind the project’s unusual name is the story of a remarkable woman who believed in the potential of every child and embraced an active, healthy lifestyle.
Carol “Lulu” Kimmelman was a California native, a lifelong tennis player and a member of USC’s 1983 NCAA National Championship women’s tennis team. But she was also a passionate public school teacher who chose to work at Raymond Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where she believed she could make a meaningful difference in children’s lives.
When Carol met her future husband, Doug Kimmelman, she was teaching at the school. According to Mahoney, Doug would frequently visit her classroom, sometimes helping students with math.
When Carol died of ovarian cancer in 2017, Doug and their four children wanted to honor her in a way that reflected her values. The idea for Lulu’s Place grew out of her two greatest passions: education and tennis.
“Carol was on the national championship-winning USC tennis team, and tennis was a big part of her life,” Mahoney says. “The combination of those two things is what kind of ignited the idea for Lulu’s Place.”
Today, her legacy is being transformed into a place where thousands of children will have opportunities to learn, play, discover new talents and pursue their dreams.
A Learning Lab Where Curiosity Comes First
One of the most exciting features of Lulu’s Place will be the TGR Learning Lab, a two-story, 25,000-square-foot educational center operated by TGR Foundation, founded by golfer Tiger Woods.
The new location will be the foundation’s third learning lab, in addition to those in Anaheim and West Philadelphia.
TGR Foundation Senior Vice President, Programs and Education, John Lee, who is helping lead the new learning lab in Playa del Rey, says the goal is to introduce students to science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) through hands-on experiences.
The facility will include five adaptable classrooms, a 200-seat hall, a makerspace, a multimedia suite with recording and video editing facilities, an academic hub and an outdoor learning garden. Providence will also operate a wellness clinic inside the building.
Unlike a traditional school, the TGR Learning Lab will offer educational enrichment that supplements what students are learning in their regular classrooms.
During the school day, the lab will partner with schools to provide field trips. After school, on Saturdays and during the summer, students will be able to participate in free programs designed to spark their curiosity and help them explore potential careers.
Lee offers an example from the foundation’s Anaheim location, where a group of fifth graders recently participated in a marine science program.
Students learned about ocean ecosystems through hands-on activities, including dissecting squid. But the experience went beyond biology.
The children were also introduced to careers connected to marine science and Southern California’s “blue economy,” which encompasses industries related to the ocean.
“We want to kind of start that spark early,” Lee says.
As students get older, the learning lab will offer increasingly sophisticated experiences, including job shadowing, micro-internships and career preparation.
The idea is to help students discover possibilities they may never have considered.
“We want to kind of look at things through that progression of exposure and the preparation, but then also access to different careers,” Lee says.
And while the foundation’s primary mission is to serve students from under-resourced communities, the programs will be open to all students.
Families will eventually be able to register online for after-school, Saturday and summer programs, while school-day field trips will be arranged through participating schools.
According to Lee, construction on the learning lab is approximately 75% complete, with plans to move into the building by the end of May 2027. Limited programming is expected to begin next summer, followed by a full schedule for the 2027–28 school year.
Game, Set, Match!
For young athletes, Lulu’s Place will offer another remarkable opportunity: access to some of the finest tennis facilities in Southern California.
The campus will feature 24 tennis courts and become the West Coast headquarters for the United States Tennis Association’s player development program.
The USTA Foundation will also offer after-school tennis programs, summer camps and other opportunities designed to introduce children to the sport.
But tennis is only part of the picture.
The campus will also feature six pickleball courts, two padel courts, four basketball courts, a sand volleyball court, soccer fields and a youth flag football field.
The Los Angeles Chargers’ youth flag football program, including the Snoop & Housh league, is also expected to call Lulu’s Place home.
Health and wellness will also be an important part of the campus. Cedars-Sinai’s Team HEAL will provide sports medicine resources and introduce high school students to potential careers in the field.
Mahoney says the real magic will happen when students discover opportunities beyond the activity that originally brought them to campus.
A middle school student might arrive for a tennis lesson, then discover an interest in robotics at the learning lab. A high school student might participate in sports and later explore a career in physical therapy, coaching or sports medicine.
“What Lulu’s Place will do is help young people and their families navigate all the options,” Mahoney says.
By bringing so many organizations together, he hopes the campus will have a greater impact than any one program could achieve alone.
Playa del Rey is the Place
Finding 34 acres of available land in Los Angeles is no small feat. Mahoney says the location became possible through partnerships with Los Angeles World Airports and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
But Playa del Rey and the surrounding areas also offered something equally important: proximity to thousands of students who could benefit from the campus.
Mahoney estimates that approximately 1,800 students attend schools within walking distance of Lulu’s Place, with nearly 5,000 students attending schools in the greater Westchester/Playa area.
The location also makes the campus accessible to families in nearby Inglewood and South Los Angeles.
A Place Where Every Child Belongs
For Mahoney, the mission is deeply personal.
Before joining Lulu’s Place, he spent more than a decade working with Boys & Girls Clubs, including six years leading the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles.
During that time, he helped raise millions of dollars to renovate facilities in underserved communities. What stayed with him wasn’t simply the improvements to the buildings, but the reactions of the children who walked through their doors.
“Once we showed them a new room, or a new music studio, or whatever it might be, their posture changed,” Mahoney recalls. “They entered the space differently because immediately we were telling them, you deserve being invested in, you deserve being the best.”
He believes beautiful, thoughtfully designed spaces send a powerful message to young people about their worth and potential.
It’s a philosophy that seems perfectly aligned with the values Carol “Lulu” Kimmelman brought to her classroom decades ago.
She believed in her students, invested in their futures and understood that sometimes the greatest gift an adult can give a child is the opportunity to discover what they’re capable of achieving.
Stay up-to-date with what’s happening at lulu’s Place by visiting lulusplace.org and following them on Instagram @lulusplacelosangeles.
Story by Shanee Edwards. Photos Courtesy Lulu’s Place.