Planet Fitness continues to make New York a “Judgement Free Zone” with its rapid expansion in Brooklyn.
The New Hampshire-based fitness center has inked a deal to open a new 22,500-square-foot gym at 1245 Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The deal comes four months after Planet Fitness signed deals for two 30,000-square-foot gyms on 423 West 55th Street and 25 Broadway.
When the Commercial Observer initially spoke to Richard Chera, the broker at Crown Retail Services helping the company find new locations, he noted that the company has plans to expand within the five boroughs with an emphasis in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The new location at 1245 Fulton Street is currently a freestanding one-story building, but plans are set to redevelop the property.
“Right now, it’s a one-story building and it is occupied by a retail tenant,” said Zach Mishaan, a broker at Winick Realty Group. “That tenant is going to be vacating by the end of the year and then the building will go under construction for another year, adding a second floor and expanding the basement.”
Planet Fitness plans to open its doors in January 2015.
As noted earlier, Mr. Chera is the lead broker on Planet Fitness’ activity. Mr. Mishaan brokered the deal on behalf of the landlord, Infinity Real Estate.
“Health and fitness club deals are happening more often. The frequency is probably ten fold from just two years ago,” estimated Mr. Mishaan. “Back in the day as a retail broker, when you thought of a gym, you would think ‘nope!’ but now you look for health club centers that aren’t in the area yet.”
“Those are the tenants that are looking for space,” he added.
