Hiit Republic plans for 24/7 gym on Greek on Baylis site approved
A new 24/7 gym has been approved in a bid to revive a key site along a busy thoroughfare in Wagga’s CBD.
The Wagga News
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A vacant site on a prominent city corner is set to be transformed into a 24/7 gym that aims to bring “people together to celebrate fitness” and “functional, high energy, group workouts” to the city.
Last Friday, Wagga City council gave the green light to Viva Leisure’s development application to transform 2 Baylis Street, which previously housed the Greek on Baylis restaurant.
The Canberra-based health club operator lodged the application on January 10 with most of the works to involve changing the building’s interior into a recreation facility.
Application documents state that once complete, the site, which previously housed Greek on Baylis, will have “extensive safety protocols” including 24-hour CCTV and a duress button.
Viva’s managing director and CEO Harry Konstantinou said: “The space will be our tenth nationally, third in NSW and our first in the Wagga region”.
He also said more Hiit Republic sites are set to open across the country this year.
Viva’s communications manager Leah Doyle said their project team had been working closely with local real estate agents to find a suitable space.
“The planned space is in a great central location on a busy street, and has street frontage,” Ms Doyle said.
The firm, which also operates Club Lime in Wagga, expects to have a maximum of 35 members at the gym at any one time during peak hours.
In approving the application, Wagga City Council’s senior town planner Sam Robins cited that the gym would help retain and enhance the streetscape quality and improve the amenity of the locality.
It will be the third gym on Baylis Street along with Anytime Fitness and Street Alert Gym.
Last year, Fitness Australia, the industry’s peak body, said about 60 per cent of about 1800 gyms across the country were 24/7.
“The 24-hour gym is in many ways the logical extension and apex of consumer calls for ‘more flexibility’ in their options for belonging to a gym,” it said in an industry report.
The Hiit Republic gym approval comes shortly after a proposal to develop a $15.5 million boutique hotel at 7-9 Baylis Street progressed to the next phase.