The Lyons Road health club will be the second Dayton-area location for the New Hampshire-based chain that operates a fitness center in the Airway Shopping Center in Riverside. Knapp said he signed a 10-year lease with two five-year options to become an anchor tenant in Washington Park Plaza. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Knapp said.
Ryan Lee, zoning manager for Washington Twp., said, “This is definitely good news, because that center (Washington Park Plaza) has had multiple vacancies for quite some time. Planet Fitness will bring some synergy there, will help them fill some of their other vacancies.”
Washington Park Plaza’s leasing manager, Sam Cooper of Lamar Companies, said, “We still have some vacancy at the property including the former Old Time Pottery space … but we believe that Planet Fitness is a step in the right direction.”
Old Time Pottery closed its store in the center in early 2010, and the 75,000-square-foot space has been vacant since. The space leased by Planet Fitness was formerly occupied by Bridal n Tux, which vacated the shopping center in 2011.
The Washington Twp. location will open with 15 to 18 employees, Knapp said.
Planet Fitness spokesman Eric Vaden said his company’s health clubs are known for their “Judgement Free” philosophy, in which members “can relax, get in shape, and have fun without being subjected to the hard-core, look-at-me attitude that exists in other gyms.”
The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association reported earlier this year that U.S. health club industry revenue reached $21.4 billion in 2011, and memberships grew 2.4 percent to 51.4 million in 2011.
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