Planet Fitness will activate the redeveloped space above downtown Denver’s Walgreens store.
The 19,200-square-foot space on the 16th Street Mall will be Planet Fitness’ first downtown location. It will be operated by a franchise group that owns other Planet Fitness facilities in the Denver area.
The use for the space at 815 16th St. is being welcomed by those involved in redeveloping the second-floor space and by prospective patrons. But it knocks out of orbit what everyone thought would happen with the property while it was being opened up and outfitted with expansive windows, new lighting, and a new facade and lobby entrance on the mall.
The space was being marketed as creative office space. It is adjacent to the 16th & Stout light-rail station.
“We expected it to be a tech-type, open layout, millennial-employee office tenant, and then this group came around,” said Jon Tilton of Newmark Knight Frank, who was marketing the space for lease with NKF’s Tom Lee.
The franchisee signed a lease for more than 10 years. It consists of members of the Jost family, which have two Planet Fitness centers in Lakewood.
“The Jost family thinks that it’s a nice pairing with Walgreens and that it is beneficial for both tenants to be on that corner. It should help increase pedestrian traffic and overall activity on the east side of the 16th Street Mall, so we’re excited,” Tilton commented.
The building has been owned by the same Colorado family investment group, 815 801 Venture LLC, for more than 40 years. The second floor was underutilized when Walgreens expanded. Given the strong office market, the ownership felt the time was right to redo it as creative office space.
Planet Fitness, which has locations across the country and is expanding into Canada and the Dominican Republic, offers a $10-per-month membership for unlimited fitness training, and an upgraded monthly membership at $19.99.
