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By year end, Jamaica’s largest wellness chain, Express Fitness, will add a new gym and expand the facilities at the crowded Constant Spring Golf Club centre, which caters to platinum clients at premium prices.
Parent company for the gym chain, Norbrook Equity Partners, will be spending about $450 million to $550 million, but Executive Chairman Khary Robinson said that’s a preliminary estimate.
The new Express Fitness gym will be developed at the Old Hope Road headquarters of courier company Mailpac Group. It’s located in the vicinity of Liguanea, where the company already operates another platinum centre at the Liguanea Post Mall.
“I’m actually doing a three-storey construction”, which includes the Express Fitness gym, Hertz, and rooftop amenities, said Robinson, regarding the Mailpac complex development. “So, it’s not all Express,” he said in an interview with the Financial Gleaner. Hertz is Norbrook Equity’s car rental franchise.
The new gym at Old Hope Road will also be a platinum centre.
As to what will become of the Liguanea Post Mall location: “We’re still exploring options for a 365, but we haven’t decided yet,” said Robinson. “... It’s going to take us about, I would say, six or seven months to get the new structure up. So, we have six to seven months to make the decision.”
The 365 brand is a value option at Express Fitness. It offers lower-cost membership, less drills and a more basic workout environment, he explained.
The branch in Montego Bay operates as a 365 centre.
The new gym at the Mailpac complex will span 10,000 square feet, while the expansion at Constant Spring will add another 15,000-square-foot building behind the existing 10,000-square-foot gym in operation at the golf club.
Financing for the project is a mix of debt and equity, said Robinson, who is executive chairman of both Norbrook Equity and Express Fitness, but he declined to name his backers.
Designed by architectural firm Vidal Atelier, both locations will incorporate a rooftop turf area for outdoor workouts and events, and pickleball courts to cater to Jamaica’s growing enthusiasm in the sport, Express Fitness said. Pickleball is already offered at Constant Spring, but the fitness club said the expansion project would provide dedicated courts for the sport at both locations.
“We’ll be doing a new building at Constant Spring. It won’t affect the present operation, but certainly, once we’re finished we’ll be connecting the two of them,” Robinson said.
Express Fitness operates 11 gyms that are spread across Kingston, Portmore, Drax Hall, Mandeville, Savanna-la-Mar and Montego Bay.
Next year, the gym chain will expand even further, with new fitness centres to be added in Portmore and Montego Bay.
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