Malverne gets closer to a full-service gym

After more than a year of negotiations, a lease was signed Oct. 11 between the owner of the former Tri-Color Labs building in Malverne and an entrepreneur who wants to turn it into a full-service fitness center.

Michael Hobbs, a businessman who owns two Fitness 19 gyms, and Jeff Persily, landlord of the former Tri-Color Labs building and several other properties, signed a 10-year lease that covers the entire building, according to Hobbs.

Persily, owner of the 18,000-square-foot property since November 2014, said that once all permits are in place, he will begin to redo the façade, which has slowly deteriorated since the building became vacant six years ago. For many Malverne residents, it may seem as if the building has been empty for much longer than that since only a small part of the building’s back was utilized for several years after Tri-Color closed its front doors.

New architectural renderings for the property’s exterior, according to Persily, will include a clock tower that faces all four directions. “I think everyone’s going to love it,” he said. “Hopefully it will be worth the wait.”

Persily said he fell in love with the building and Malverne from the get-go, and that its purchase was his first venture in the village. “The building was in good condition. It’s a quick on and off from the Southern State Parkway, and Malverne is just a beautiful village,” said Persily. “It’s like Mayberry. And those flags up and down Hempstead Avenue — who does that? Nobody does.”

Persily estimated that it would only take a few weeks to build the façade once approvals are received. He said that the village has been cooperative in moving the process along. “They have been as helpful as can be, and are trying very hard to … get us open,” he said. “At least it feels that way to me.”

Once approvals are obtained, interior construction should take three to four months to complete, according to Hobbs, who said he hopes to open the facility in March. The gym will feature cardio training, spin classes, free weights, machines, showers, and locker rooms, he said. Hobbs currently owns a Fitness 19 gym in Elmwood Park, NJ, and another in Buffalo, NY.

In an interview earlier this year, Hobbs told the Herald that all the equipment, free weights, an aerobics room and a daycare would be on the first floor. The lower level would contain lockers, showers, a spinning room, group training room and free weights. Hobbs said the gym would operate Monday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.