ToNeTo Atlanta reported in January on the closure of Athletic Club Northeast (1515 Sheridan Road) after more than four decades in business. The facility's closure came as a surprise to many longtime members left scrambling for a new gym. We and others in the community had speculated the property was likely to be the target of redevelopment.
Life Time (NYSE: LTH), based in Chanhassen, Minnesota, entered the Atlanta market in 2006 with a club in Alpharetta. The company has since expanded to Woodstock, Johns Creek, Sandy Springs, Sugarloaf and Peachtree Corners. This past December, the company opened one of its largest, nicest, and most expensive clubs in the country at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. The new 115,000 square foot club spans five stories and includes a myriad of fitness options as well as a rooftop pool. The Buckhead club also features a separate Life Time Work, a co-working concept the company recently introduced with an Atlanta area location adjacent to the company's Sandy Springs club at The Prado on Roswell Road.
The RMR Group (NASDAQ: RMR), a Newton, Massachusetts-based "alternative asset management company," also owns the Life Time facility in Alpharetta on North Point Parkway.
Unlike rival fitness facility operator LA Fitness which often utilizes existing spaces or converts other gyms, Life Time typically builds their own locations. Athletic Club Northeast and its 70s era building will surely present some challenges and perhaps opportunities for the premium club operator.
In a release announcing the transaction, the company did not shed light on just how long of a renovation residents can expect or when a wait list may open or pre-sales will occur.
Are you excited for the opening of the new Life Time? If you were displaced by the closure of Athletic Club Northeast, have you found a new club? Are you pleased to see a club reopening at the property versus it being redeveloped?
Please share your thoughts below.