A rendering of the interior of the upcoming Planet Fitness location at 7297 Battle Hill Drive in Mechanicsville. (Image courtesy of Grand Fitness Partners)
A new Planet Fitness operator is expanding its orbit with new gyms in Mechanicsville and Bon Air after buying its way into the Virginia market less than a year ago.
Grand Fitness Partners, a Planet Fitness franchise with locations in five states, expects the Mechanicsville gym at 7297 Battle Hill Drive and the Bon Air gym at Stony Point Village Shopping Center to open in late December.
The Mechanicsville gym will occupy a 30,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Best Buy, which closed there in 2021.
The Bon Air gym will be in a 17,500-square-foot space at 3001 Stony Point Road in a leftover portion of the old Martin store next to trader joe.
Planet Fitness plans to open a new gym in what was formerly Best Buy. (BizSense Stock Photo)
Both gyms will have cardio and strength equipment, rowing machines, changing rooms with showers and tanning booths, among other equipment.
Nicki Jassy and Jim Ashby of Thalhimer represented Grand Fitness on the Mechanicsville lease. Jassy again handled the lease on behalf of Grand Fitness at the Stony Point Village shopping center, where Ashby represented the owner.
Grand Fitness is still on the lookout for more local expansion opportunities, company spokeswoman DonnaMarie Hendriksen said in an email Thursday.
“We believe that Richmond is indeed a market with more growth potential and we will continue to consider sites in areas of opportunity. We look forward to adding additional clubs in 2023,” she said.
Planet Fitness has signed a lease for a portion of Martin’s former grocery store in Stony Point Village. (Jack jacobs photo)
Grand Fitness currently operates the region’s other Planet Fitness locations at 4951 Nine Mile Road, 9703 W. Broad St. and 11001 Hull Street Road, as well as a Colonial Heights outpost at 230 Southpark Circle.
Grand Fitness purchased those locations as part of its acquisition of Asbell Group’s 13-location Virginia portfolio in a deal that closed in December 2021, Hendriksen said. The deal marked Grand Fitness’s first foray into Virginia. Terms were not disclosed.
The company, founded in 2010, currently operates 59 locations in Virginia, Florida, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Grand Fitness has corporate offices in Virginia, New Jersey and Florida.
Grand Fitness was previously known as PF Atlantic Holdings. It was rebranded as part of a majority investment by private equity group HGGC announced in November 2021.
In other gym news, Tequila & Deadlifts has expanded its offerings at the Fan. City Councilman Andreas Addison has opened a gym in Scott’s Addition.
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