New fitness club coming to Macon, and you won’t believe what it will include

Just months after a HHGregg moved out of the Eisenhower Crossing Annex shopping center, a new kind of business is planning to move into the space.

Colorado-based Aspire Fitness Clubs is planning to take the entire 30,000-square-foot space at 4551 Billy Williamson Drive next to PetSmart, said Charles Vita, partner/CEO of ProVest Properties LLC, which bought the shopping center two years ago.

“We are going to start demolition in mid-September, and I anticipate that they’ll probably open sometime after the new year, likely February,” Vita said.

And the fitness club will include a swimming pool, he said.

“As a way to differentiate themselves from Planet Fitness, for example, it’s a terrific idea to have a swimming pool,” he said.

An attempt to reach the CEO of Aspire was unsuccessful Friday afternoon.

Aspire Fitness has one location in Georgia so far, in Austell, with plans to open soon in Northlake and Stone Mountain.

Aspire will be open 24/7 year round and it includes cardio machines, free weights, fitness classes, cardio movie theater, big screen TVs and full locker rooms, according to its website. Memberships begin at $10 a month with no commitments.

Vita said he understood that Aspire chose the Macon location because of “the traffic at the center and the variety of the co-tenants was attractive to them.”

Kevin Harkins, an associate broker with The Summit Group in Macon, said “there is no competition on that side of town.” He represented the landlord in the deal. “I’m so excited because with Dick’s closing and HHGregg closing it’s nice to have some positive news.”

In April this year, HHGregg announced it would be closing its Macon store, which it opened in October 2006. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 8:55 PM with the headline "New fitness club coming to Macon, and you won’t believe what it will include."