Saturday, September 01, 2007

New York Sports Club Signs on For More Uptown Space






Mark Wellborn Published: August 31, 2007
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People really want to exercise in Harlem.

The New York Sports Club that is set to open at the Langston, a 180-unit mixed-use condominium in Hamilton Heights, has decided to lease an additional 4,000 square-feet of space, according to a press release. That brings the total square footage at the location for treadmills and spin bicycles to 20,000 square feet.

The club will sit on a portion of two floors at The Langston, with its entrance located on 145th Street. This will be the second New York Sports Club in Harlem. The first is located in the Harlem USA retail complex on West 125th Street.
The full release about the expansion is below.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK SPORTS CLUB -- FIRST MAJOR HEALTH CLUB TO OPEN ABOVE WEST 125TH STREET -- LEASES ADDITIONAL 4,000 SQUARE FEET ON WEST 145TH STREET, AT THE LANGSTON

* * *

NYSC Expands Square Footage from 16,000 SF to 20,000 SF Due to Preliminary Interest
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – August 29, 2007 – The reaction to NYSC’s planned October 2007 opening at The Langston -- a new 180-unit mixed-use luxury condominium in Harlem’s Hamilton Heights -- has been so enthusiastic that the sports club has leased an additional 4,000 square feet of space. When the new 20,000 square foot facility opens, it will become the first major health club above West 125th Street.

“NYSC originally leased 16,000 square feet of space,” says Scott Auster, a broker with Ripco Real Estate Corp., who handled the leasing transaction on behalf of the developers, Gotham Organization and The Richman Group. “But the incredible response from the community and
residents of the building made it necessary for NYSC to expand to meet the anticipated needs.”

NYSC, a division of Town Sports International, will occupy a portion of two floors at The Langston, with its entrance located on the street level of 145th Street, between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Bradhurst Avenue. The club, which will offer state-of-the-art equipment with audiovisual entertainment, cycling, group exercise classes, personal training, and sauna, took possession in February 2007 and is currently undergoing a build-out in preparation for their opening.

This will be NYSC’s second Harlem facility -- the first is located in the Harlem USA retail complex on West 125th Street, also developed by Gotham. John Epifanio, Development Manager, handled the lease negotiations for NYSC.

“We are very pleased to bring the second NYSC location to Harlem,” said Bob Giardina, CEO of NYSC. “This opening reinforces the strength of our unique clustering model, which concentrates clubs in urban centers and suburban locations for commuters and families, making fitness convenient to where our members work and live. We look forward to further expansion of the NYSC banner in Harlem when we open our third location on 115th Street and 5th Avenue later this year.”

At The Langston, NYSC will join Starbucks which opened in the spring and Bank of America, which is scheduled to open in October; the club joins other prominent retailers already operating along the West 145th Street corridor such as Pathmark, Duane Reade and Chase.

“With the incredible pace at which people are buying up residential property in Harlem, the demand for new retail services is rising in tandem,” says Ripco’s Auster, noting that The Langston’s homes are almost 90% sold. “We have already seen this happen along West 125th Street, but now with new wave of residential development, the transformation is well underway along the West 145 Street corridor.”

Adds David Picket, President of Gotham Organization: “Even when New York City values flattened out overall in the third and fourth quarter of 2006, they were still shooting skyward in this neighborhood and showed no signs of reaching a plateau.”

There are 10,000 square feet of retail space remaining at The Langston.

About Ricpo Real Estate Corp.
Founded in 1991, Manhattan and Long Island-based Ripco is one of the largest real estate companies of its kind specializing exclusively in retail brokerage. It serves the entire metropolitan region including the five boroughs, Long Island, lower New York State, Connecticut and New Jersey.

About Gotham Organization, Inc.
Established in 1931, Gotham Organization, Inc. and Gotham Construction Company, LLC is a fourth-generation New York City real estate and construction firm, with portfolio operations of over 1.7 million square feet of residential and retail properties. Joel I. Picket and David L. Picket have overseen Gotham’s expansion into the full-service builder and developer it is known as today. A recognized leader in the New York real estate and construction industry, Gotham has implemented a host of subsidized and tax-abatement housing programs. In recent years, Gotham has developed five 80/20 buildings in Manhattan through the utilization if triple tax-exempt bond financing, low income housing tax credits, and 421(a) real estate tax abatements.
As an active participant in the redevelopment of Harlem, Gotham co-developed and constructed Harlem USA on West 125th Street, one of the country’s pioneering urban entertainment and retail complexes The Langston is Gotham’s second joint venture with The Richman Group, having recently completed The Hamilton, a 77-unit residential cooperative located at West 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue.

About The Richman Group Development Corporation
The Richman Group Development Corporation is one of the nation’s largest developers of multifamily housing and is the 10th largest apartment owner in the country. Their staff of professionals has extensive expertise in investment banking, development, and asset and property management. Richman sponsored programs have raised over $3.3 billion in equity capital and have invested in approximately 800 rental properties with a development value of nearly $4 billion.

The Richman Group has developed over 10,200 rental and owner-occupied units throughout the country, with a combined total development of over $1 billion. Founded in 1979 by Richard Paul Richman, The Richman Group is recognized as a leading full real estate firm and has grown to 7 regional offices located in New York City, California, Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida and Oregon. Its corporate headquarters is located in Greenwich, CT.

About New York Sports Clubs:
New York Sports Clubs is owned and operated by New York-based Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (TSI) (NASDAQ:CLUB), a leading owner and operator of fitness clubs in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. In addition to New York Sports Clubs, TSI operates under the brand names of Boston Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs and Philadelphia Sports Clubs, with 149 clubs and approximately 472,000 members in the U.S. as of June 30, 2007. In addition, the Company operates three facilities in Switzerland with approximately 6,000 members. For more information on TSI visit http://www.mysportsclubs.com/.

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