LA Fitness flexing financial muscle with new San Fernando Valley clubs

An improving economy has LA Fitness flexing its financial muscle in the San Fernando Valley.

The Irvine-based company is undertaking a multi-million building effort on new clubs in Woodland Hills and Van Nuys.

“We’re always looking up there. We think the area is under served. We always scour that area,” said Bill Horner, the company’s senior vice president and chief real estate officer.

Both of the new clubs will replace nearby LA Fitness facilities. Horner would not disclose the company’s investment in the Valley but said it was “in excess” of $1 million.

The Woodland Hills facility is the less expensive of the two because the company is converting the former Circuit City store at 6401 Canoga Ave.

A new L.A. Fitness gym is under construction on the former Circuit City site at 6401 Canoga Ave. in Woodland Hills. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer)

The Van Nuys project in the 6100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard is in the initial development stages but will be more expensive because the company demolished a former furniture store and will put up a new building, Horner said.

Both sites are leased for 15 years with options for extensions, he said.

The Woodland Hills facility is much further along and is scheduled to open at the end of next month, Horner said.

The 45,000 square-foot facility includes a swimming pool, basketball and racquetball courts, lounge and various exercise rooms.

The Canoga Avenue facility is ideal because of its size and features plenty of parking.

“We’re taking advantage in the change in the environment from electronic retailer. These boxes have the size so we can put all the things we like to put into a club,” Horner said. “We like our clubs to be very convenient for our members.”

The club will have about 50 employees and offer about 50 hours a week of group exercises, Horner said.

The new Woodland Hills club will be brighter than the existing club at 6363 Canoga Ave.

“It’s laid out in a much more open and friendly manner,” Hoerner said. “We like our rooms to be open and have good natural light and an open and comfortable feel.”

Construction started last year.

LA Fitness has been in an expansion mode. In November, it acquired 171 Bally Total Fitness clubs. Terms were not announced.

The company got all of the Bally locations in the Los Angeles area and Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington, the District of Columbia and others scattered throughout the country.

The center where the Woodland Hills club is located also has a Nordstrom Rack, Golf Smith, Staples, restaurants and beauty salons.

It has been owned by Newport Beach-based Pacific Development Group since 1984, said David Powell, who supervises the company’s projects.

“It’s good news for us,” he said of the deal with LA Fitness. “They’re a great group of people to deal with and it couldn’t be any better from a tenant/landlord standpoint.”

Pacific has been remodeling some of the buildings at the center, which does not have a formal name, for the past three years.

The company remains high on Warner Center.

“It has been an excellent investment. We thought we’d have an opportunity to put some really quality tenants in there,” Powell said.