By:Jeff Lipton
Developers and architects are getting plans in shape to build a massive health and fitness club in Woodmere - with hopes of opening right in time for members to keep their New Year's resolution of staying fit and losing weight in 2002.
A roughly $5-million, 19,000-square-foot New York Sports Club facility is planned for 157 Franklin Place and the adjoining 158 Irving Place, which will be used for parking. An additional 2,000 square feet will be used for office space. Buildings formerly used by the Haller and Burtis plumbing and heating company and the other by the Craft and Brucia contractors will be torn down, and ground-breaking on the new facility will be as soon as building permits are issued.
The project was approved by the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals last month. The club will open by the end of the year, pending all approvals are obtained, said John Klein, director of real estate development for Town Sports International, which operates the New York Sports Clubs.
The zoning board approved a variance for setback as well as off-street parking. The club would provide 65 spaces, but the code requires about 80. Klein said a study determined that there are enough on-street spots and the club would be close enough to the Woodmere train station for members to use those spaces, for a total of between 30 and 40 additional spots. He said no one spoke in opposition to the project during a public hearing before the board.
"A lot of our members are from Woodmere and the Five Towns and it would only make sense to build a facility right by their home," said Klein, who added that Passport membership would entitle them to any NY Sports Club facility.
The state-of-the-art, three-level facility would include the latest in cardiovascular equipment and treadmills and computerized bikes, with an aerobics group-exercise studio and a spinning-group exercise room with stationary bikes and motivational music.
The Woodmere location is compatible with the club's demographic profile - a dense, pretty affluent suburban community and close to a train station. The perfect scenario would be for members to drive to the train station, where they could park their cars and walk over to the club to use the fitness equipment before heading to work by train. They then could use the NY Sports Club closest to their Manhattan offices during lunch break and, after work, head back by train and stop in to get more use out of the Woodmere facility before heading home for the night.
The peak use of the club is expected to be between 5:30 and 9 p.m., when parking is not a big problem in town, Klein said.
"I don't mind it as long as they can provide the parking. That's the main issue," said David DeSetta, owner of DeSetta's garden and nursery shop on Franklin Place, across the street from the proposed facility.
A nursing home is nearby and a new yeshiva for girls recently opened, placing a further premium on parking. Otherwise, he said, the club is good for business and will help in efforts to revitalize the town.
DeSetta said the two buildings the fitness club would be replacing are dilapidated, and the new facility should also increase property values in the area.
About 70 New York Sports Clubs operate in the tri-state area, including one each in Oceanside and Long Beach. The Woodmere club should create about 25 jobs, and local residents would be given first preference.
Sy Glass, president of the Woodmere Merchants Association, said "I don't object to anything that would be an improvement to property in Woodmere." He said his greatest concern was the nearby Southwest Club on Broadway and how the new project would impact that business, but because of the strong clientele it has built, he concluded that the Southwest Club would not be hurt.
"We've been working on this for a year, and most of the work is done," said Joe Gelb, the attorney representing the architects, Michael Mendillo and Paul Draskovic. "It's a very big facility and truly state-of-the-art with modern equipment and an experienced management team."
Mendillo, whose office is in one building that will be torn down, said the club will be landscaped with 25 trees. "It'll be quite nice," he said.
