LA Fitness, one of the nation's fastest growing sports club chains, has chosen Garden City Center as its first Rhode Island location. At Garden City Center, LA Fitness will be located next to Office Max in a new 38,000 s/f, two-level building featuring an interior with a hotel-inspired look. To make way for LA Fitness, the former Borders bookstore structure will be demolished. Construction will begin in January 2013 and LA Fitness is expected to open at Garden City Center in late December, 2013 or early 2014.
LA Fitness' commitment to Garden City Center continues the multi-phase transformation of the center into a major 21st century lifestyle destination. Phase I is well underway, with the transformation of the Garden City Center gazebo. Additionally, a new 20,000 s/f building is under construction next to Papa Razzi for the new home of Pottery Barn; and work is well underway for an expansion and update of the center's Williams Sonoma store. LA Fitness will mark the beginning of Phase II by transforming former large format retail space into a mix of mid-size and smaller specialty stores, while linking that area to Garden City Center's Village stores.
"LA Fitness brings a new dimension to the Garden City Center experience for our shoppers," said Andrew LaGrega, a principal of The Wilder Companies, the management company of Garden City Center. "Today, people don't have time to run around from place to place. Garden City Center offers consumers one-stop access to retail and grocery shopping, restaurants, banking, fitness, personal services and other activities that are part of today's busy lifestyles. By selecting Garden City Center for its first Rhode Island location, we believe LA Fitness recognizes that Garden City Center offers the right atmosphere and mix of amenities that 21st Century consumers demand."