Business & Tech
LA Fitness Transformation Begins At Brick Plaza
The plan to reduce the size of the former Sports Authority to create more parking and transform it into a gym was approved in December.
BRICK, NJ — Plans to bring LA Fitness to Brick Township got a tangible boost recently as construction fencing has gone up around the east end of Brick Plaza at the old Sports Authority.
The gym was part of three-phase project approved by the Planning Board in December for developer Metrovation, which has been overhauling the shopping center over the last two years as it tries to fill spaces vacated when companies have gone out of business.
The former Sports Authority space will be reduced by 9,000 square feet for LA Fitness to create 50 additional parking spaces, Chris Cole of Federal Realty Management Group, which represents Metrovation, said before the Brick Planning Board in December.
Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
John Zaich of LA Fitness, which has 800 locations nationwide, said it has been in discussions with Federal Realty since May and is excited about the upcoming changes. The gym will include indoor basketball courts and a lane pool, among other amenities, Cole said.
Other portions of the project, including what Metrovation hopes will be an outdoor area with a boardwalk motif, were in need of approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection because of the stream that runs through the shopping center site. Federal Realty also is looking for tenants for some spots, including BonTon, which announced it would be going out of business.
Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
HomeGoods, which went into half of the space previously occupied by the A&P supermarket, is scheduled to open later this month.
The spot at the rear of the plaza last occupied by The Mansion nightclub, and the Ethan Allen gallery, both are seeking tenants. Cole said finding a new tenant for the former Mansion space has been difficult because there's insufficient parking near that spot, so the space is going to be reduced by 5,000 square feet to provide additional parking. The Mansion space, as it exists, is roughly 19,000 square feet and the former Ethan Allen showroom is 12,000 square feet.
The goal of the $23 million project is keep the shopping center, which has 422,000 square feet of retail space, "a vital, attractive piece of Brick," said John Jackson, the attorney for the project.
A construction trailer and fencing are up at the old Sports Authority, which is being converted into an LA Fitness. Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
