Gold's Gym up for rezoning to make way for church

Elk Grove planning commissioners tonight will decide whether to rezone the Gold’s Gym building near Interstate 5 and Laguna Boulevard to allow it to be converted to a church.

The 44,000-square-foot building at 2285 Longport Court went into foreclosure, and Sun Grove Community Church is in escrow to buy it, said Jay Stevans, executive pastor the church. He would not disclose the purchase price nor the date of escrow closure.

Bob Brooks, manager of the Gold’s Gym, said the economy put a dent in the gym’s membership. In May, the franchised gym filed for bankruptcy protection while it reorganized its finances, he said.

Brooks said he wants the gym to stay put, and that Gold’s Gym investors may want to buy the building too. He said it was designed as a health center, and Gold’s Gym has been operating there since 2005.

“That building, like many other commercial and residential buildings in the area, has decreased in value,” Brooks said. “It was built for more than $10 million, but we were watching it go down to $7 million, then $6 million, then somewhere around $5 million. We want to purchase it, but we were waiting to see where the bottom is.”

A group of investors, including Northern California doctors and a dentist, own the gym, along with another Gold’s Gym in Natomas.

The Elk Grove gym was taken by the Bank of America almost three years ago. Both gyms filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento.

Brooks said the Elk Grove gym has about 4,100 members, down from 5,000 before the economy tanked.

“It’s a sad day, but the economy has affected everyone,” Brooks said. “Many of our members were laid off, and with the same expenses and less income, they are struggling. Their homes used to be their piggy banks, but with the real estate problems, there’s less discretionary income.”

Brooks said the fitness center employs about 12 full-time workers and 45 part-time employees. He said the conversion of the building to a church would be a blow to the local economy.

“The city will lose our tax dollars, because the church doesn’t pay taxes,” he said.

Stevans said Sun Grove has been active in the Elk Grove community for about 20 years, occupying a small church on Elk Grove-Florin Road, then “going mobile” about 10 years ago, when the church set up shop at Laguna Creek High, and now has its Sunday services at Franklin High.

“A home would be nice,” he said.

The church has a total of 700 to 800 members attending two Sunday services. Brooks said the building has 223 parking spaces which would make parking tight for the church, but Stevans said it wouldn’t be any tougher to find a parking spot than for the gym.

Stevans envisions that the building could also be used by the community for meetings and conferences.

“We didn’t have anything to do with Gold’s Gym’s situation,” he said. “It went into foreclosure for non-payment, and we’re buying the building.”

Planning commissioners are set to decide tonight on rezoning the 4-acre property from “highway travel commercial” to “general commercial” to allow for assembly uses, such as a religious institution, according to the staff report. Planning staff is recommending approval of the rezoning to allow the church.

If the rezoning is approved by the planning commission, the matter would next be considered by the city council.

The meeting is tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the city council chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way, Elk Grove. The staff report is on the planning department’s web site.