What The Middletown Life Time Health Club Will Be Like

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — By now, it's well known that a Middletown Life Time will open, the $40 million luxury health club coming to Half Mile Road, right by the entrance to the Garden State Parkway.

Construction already started on the building, which will have a multi-story parking garage attached. The Middletown Life Time plans to open sometime in 2024, having secured a key zoning change from Middletown Township, which it sought for years to obtain.

But what exactly is Life Time like? The company already operates several other clubs in New Jersey and this week, they invited a Patch reporter to tour an existing gym.

We toured the Montvale Life Time, in northern Bergen County. Like Middletown, the Montvale Life Time is located in a suburban office park right off the Parkway. Life Time builds their clubs off major highways so commuters can pop in on their way to and from work.

Life Time is everything you would expect from a luxury health club: First, the building itself is massive, two stories; the Middletown Life Time will look the same except the Middletown location will actually be bigger and will be three stories tall.

There is already a waiting list for those interested in Middletown/Red Bank Life Time memberships: https://www.lifetime.life/life...

Of course, all of this doesn't come cheap: Membership at Life Time is about $219/month, with different packages for seniors and families. They also offer day passes.

Life Time has different membership rates for its various locations, and has not yet revealed exact Middletown prices.

You enter through an open soaring lobby, with huge bouquets of flowers on either side of the concierge desk. There is a salon and spa immediately to your left, where people were seen getting their hair done and facials; they also offer massages on site. The spa/salon is open to non-members.

At 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, the Montvale Life Time was bustling: Locals, ranging from teenagers to people in their 70s, streamed inside to work out.

But it wasn't just the super-fit, yoga-pant wearing set: What struck me was there were so many kids running about the place. Life Time markets itself as a health club for families and this appeared true. Harried moms and dads were running their kids in for basketball practice and swim lessons. Life Time Montvale has two indoor basketball court and children ages 6-10 could be seen lining up for lessons. Life Time also runs its Ultimate Hoops basketball league for kids and adults, with a range of teams for all ability levels.

Life Time also has an adult pickleball league that is very popular. They have tournaments in the spring and summer. The Middletown Life Time will have three indoor permanent pickleball courts and one indoor basketball court.

There is a children's play area where you can drop off your child that is unlike any other children's gym area I've ever seen: It has an indoor climbing gym and slides for kids, and offers up to 35 special children's events throughout the year, such as a "Meet Santa," etc.

The second floor is all open workout space. Treadmills and other cardio machines appear to stretch on for miles. There is a cycle room and two private dance studios for dance and exercise classes. LifeTime has many trainers on site. Here is the class schedule at the Montvale site: https://www.lifetime.life/life...

There is a dedicated yoga/Pilates space in the south end of the third floor and it is meant to be a sanctuary: It is much quieter than the rest of the gym and specially heated. Life Time takes yoga seriously and offers up to eight different yoga classes, from hot yoga to fast-paced Ashtanga yoga flow to slower classes. They also offer energy work and Reiki.

There are women's and men's locker-room on the first floor and each has its own sauna and steam room. The locker rooms are spacious and immaculately kept.

Each locker room opens out in the indoor pool complex. It is hard to describe just how big LifeTime's pool area is. There are actually two pools: One is for dedicated lap swimming (there was a teenage swim team practicing when I was there). The other pool is a zero-entry pool for children to play, similar to an indoor water park. There is also a row of multiple hot tubs against one wall.

Middletown will have indoor and outdoor pools. The indoor pool will be roughly the same size as pictured above, but the outdoor pool deck will be more than 58,000 square feet, so it will actually be even bigger than the Montvale outdoor pool.

Life Time also has a cafe on site, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and to-go meals such as quinoa and chicken salads and freshly-made egg frittatas. All the food is healthy: They have a beef burger, a grilled chicken sandwich with cheese, but also the expected grain bowls and high-protein salads. The kids' section serves pizza and chicken tenders. There is also a smoothie bar on site, where you can order fresh fruit smoothies and protein shakes.

On Wednesday night, teenagers relaxed in the cafe over smoothies and a mom got her two daughters pizza after their swim lesson.

"What we often hear from members is we're today’s modern country club without the golf,'" LifeTime spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw previously told Patch. "Think resort-style: Pools, lounge chairs, bistro, etc. Life Time is a comprehensive healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment that encompasses the entire spectrum of daily life for individuals, couples and families of all ages."

"This is a great market," she added, referring to the greater Middletown area, including Holmdel, Rumson, Little Silver and Marlboro/Colts Neck.

Last year, a Monmouth County judge threw out a lawsuit against Lifetime from the owner of DiCesare Periodontal and Implant Center, located across the street from the gym. He sued Life Time in 2021 to prevent them from opening, saying traffic on Newman Springs and Half Mile Road will get worse. He also named Middletown Township in his lawsuit, for changing the zoning on the property.

The Middletown location would be the sixth Life Time in New Jersey; in addition to Montvale, there are existing Life Times in Bridgewater, Berkeley Heights, Florham Park and Princeton. Over the course of the year into 2024, Life Time expects to open 20 more clubs throughout the United States, for a total of more than 160 Lifetime locations in North America.

Middletown Life Time Still Planning 2024 Opening, Will Have Co-Working Space, Company Says (Feb. 2023)