The Ultimate Guide to Commercial Fitness Center Remodeling & Build-Outs

The High Stakes of Fitness Build-Outs

If you’ve never opened a fitness studio or gym in a leased commercial space before, step one is to familiarize yourself with the concept of Tenant Improvements (TI) or tenant build-outs. This is the process by which a commercial space is renovated to suit the needs of a new tenant. Often, the landlord will provide financial assistance for the renovations with a lump sum known as a TI Allowance.

It’s critical to use your gym TI allowance for more than just aesthetic upgrades. This money represents your best opportunity to identify and remedy any issues with your leased commercial property, such as:

• Poor ventilation
• Inadequate subfloor
• Sound transfer
• Water intrusion
• Inadequate HVAC

While other types of businesses may get away with leaving one or two of these issues unremedied, gyms and fitness centers are held to a higher standard by their members. Distracting or uncomfortable conditions will quickly undermine your reputation. And a bad first impression can be nearly impossible to shed, especially in the often tight-knit world of gym and fitness enthusiasts.

Phase 1: Zoning, Permits, and "Change of Use"

For many fitness businesses, including both conventional gyms and niche spaces like pickleball facilities and aerial yoga studios, phase one of a build-out is mostly bureaucratic. Many types of permits, reviews, and approvals can come up during commercial fitness center construction. The specific ones your project is subject to will depend largely on location and zoning.

The easiest way to keep this phase streamlined is to work with a gym build-out company that takes a design-build approach, like Diversified Construction. This means that for everything your project may need, Diversified can handle it or liaise with another entity that will. This way, no matter how complicated things get, you as the business owner never need to worry about managing more than one point of contact

Rezoning

Office shells tend to have high square footage and solid parking amenities, both traits that work great for a busy gym. And the high ceilings in old warehouses make them excellent choices for ball courts, gymnastics, and climbing sports. But be aware, many offices and warehouses won’t be zoned for easy conversion to a gym or fitness facility. Depending on your local regulations, you may need to pursue rezoning, a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), or some other form of variance before you can start construction.

Fire Safety

Another type of permit that gym tenants may need to secure is an operational or fire safety permit. These are often required for high-occupancy assembly spaces, where groups of 50 or more people are likely to gather. They certify that the space has been designed in a way that minimizes the risk of catastrophic fires.

Sewer and Water Access

Many gym and fitness tenant build-outs will also need to be assessed for their increased sewer and water use, and pay any additional sewer and/or water access charges. These charges cover the increased load placed on municipal utilities by the addition of multiple restrooms, showers, and water stations.

Phase 2: The Technical Core (HVAC, Floors, and Acoustics)

The second phase of gym and fitness center construction is focused on getting the fundamental design and infrastructure of the space in order. For most fitness tenant build-outs, this phase includes:

• Air quality and HVAC upgrades: Many gyms require high-volume air exchanges that can move thousands of cubic feet per minute (CFM) to eliminate bad odors. HVAC upgrades are also essential for providing zoned temperature and humidity control, especially in spaces with temperature-specific offerings like hot yoga.
• Structural floor work: Assessing the existing subfloors and adding structural slab reinforcement is especially important for facilities that will be installing a lot of workout machines, or dealing with heavy dropped weights.
• Soundproofing: For fitness studios that run high-energy classes like barre, spin, and dance, loud music is essential for keeping participants engaged. But preventing the bass from impacting neighboring tenants requires structural soundproofing, best achieved in the early phases of the build-out.

Phase 3: Maximizing Your Tenant Improvement (TI) Allowance

New gym and fitness tenants frequently underestimate their final build-out costs. This often comes down to underestimating how much money the more run-of-the-mill improvements are going to take. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades, while not the first things that come to mind for a gym, are almost always necessary to get a facility into proper shape.

To ensure there’s sufficient budget to cover this final phase of the work, it’s a good idea to bring your fitness center fit-out partner on as early as possible, even before you sign the lease. This allows your experts time to evaluate a space’s potential on your behalf and build an accurate preliminary budget. And that number becomes invaluable data when you’re negotiating for your final TI allowance from the landlord.