Development · Valley-wide
24 Hour Fitness founder plans $10 million Founders Club gym in former Ashley furniture store at Sahara and Fort Apache
24 Hour Fitness announced Friday it will open a Founders Club gym early next year in a former Ashley furniture store on West Sahara Avenue, part of an effort to rebuild a valley presence that shrank to one club after 2020.
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What happened
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that 24 Hour Fitness, led by founder Mark Mastrov, announced plans on Friday for a gym under a new brand called Founders Club. The chain said it will open early next year at the northeast corner of Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road, in space an Ashley furniture store previously occupied.
The address is 9200 W. Sahara Ave., in Canyon Lakes Plaza. On Friday, workers on a scissor lift hung a "Coming Soon" banner for Founders Club by 24 Hour Fitness above the main entrance, according to the Review-Journal.
What the gym will include
Size and cost
The facility will cover more than 45,000 square feet and amounts to a $10 million investment, according to a company news release cited by the Review-Journal. The release stated that pre-opening memberships range from about $60 to $100 per month.
Amenities
The release lists free weights, cardio machines, a large turf area, a group fitness studio, and a juice bar and cafe. It also describes a recovery lounge with hyperbaric chambers, massage chairs and red-light saunas, along with a medical spa offering what the company calls "IV therapy."
Other planned features include a glute and lower-body training area, a DJ booth and a "posing room." The Review-Journal described the posing room as a mirrored space where members can watch themselves flex.
Why it matters for the valley
The Review-Journal reported that the new gym marks an expansion for a chain that, under prior ownership, closed all but one of its Las Vegas-area locations after the pandemic hit. Today, 24 Hour Fitness has a single Southern Nevada location, off Town Center Drive at Summerlin Parkway.
Pandemic closures
The company filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2020 and closed eight Las Vegas-area locations at that time, according to the Review-Journal. Eventually, only the Summerlin club remained. Nationally, the chain had more than 440 locations in early 2020 and nearly 300 clubs when it emerged from bankruptcy protection in late 2020.
More sites under review
Since Mastrov reacquired the company, the Summerlin gym has undergone a $1.5 million remodel. Mastrov told the Review-Journal his team was looking at two or three other possible new locations in the valley. He had earlier said his team signed a lease for another valley outpost but declined at the time to say where.
The founder's return
Mastrov started the company in 1983 with one gym in San Leandro, California, near Oakland. In 2005, when the chain reportedly had more than 300 locations, he sold it to a private equity firm for $1.68 billion, the Review-Journal reported.
This past January, 24 Hour Fitness announced that Mastrov had teamed with investment firm LongRange Capital to reacquire the company. Terms were not disclosed. Mastrov told the Review-Journal the price was "a lot less" than what he had sold the company for about 20 years earlier.
The company's release described the Sahara location as a place for people who want to train, recover and stay a while. It did not give a specific opening date beyond early next year.
What to watch next
- The opening of Founders Club at 9200 W. Sahara Ave., which the chain says is planned for early next year.
- Whether 24 Hour Fitness announces any of the two or three other possible valley locations Mastrov said his team was looking at.