Founder of Learning Annex Opening New Boxing Gym Concept in Union Square
By Rebecca Baird-Remba March 19, 2019 4:06 pm
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Another day, another boutique boxing studio for New York City.
The latest boxing concept headed to Manhattan is called Grit Bxng. Founder Bill Zanker inked a 15-year, 5,500-square-foot retail lease for the brand’s first outpost at AD Real Estate’s 9 East 16th Street in Union Square, according to Meridian Capital Group retail broker James Famularo, who handled both sides of the deal. Asking rent in the transaction was $250 a square foot, Famularo said.
The gym will occupy 3,500 square feet on the ground floor and 2,000 square feet on the lower level of the building between Fifth Avenue and Union Square West. The space will have upscale locker rooms—featuring marble bathrooms and rainforest showers—on the lower floor, and boxing rings, a training area, dramatic LED lighting, a DJ and an outdoor café on the ground floor. The studio will offer boxing classes as well as one-on-one training. There will also be a fully stocked liquor bar.
Zanker, who founded adult education company The Learning Annex, doesn’t want Grit Bxng “to just be a gym where you work out and then go home,” Famularo said. “After a nice workout you may want to go to the juice bar and get a bespoke healthy cocktail. The social component is important.” The gym is expected to open this June, and it will eventually expand to other locations.
Famularo noted that the neighborhood is flush with upscale fitness concepts, including another boutique boxing gym, Shadowbox, boot camp workout 30/60/90, and pilates and barre studio Chaise Fitness, to name a few.
