Life Time launches 1st residential project in Coral Gables
The live-work-play tagline gets thrown around by developers hoping to attract tenants to their buildings with a suite of amenities.
But Life Time Living Luxury Residences in Coral Gables, a 1.2-millionsquare-foot mixed-use project that is launching pre-leasing today, takes the concept more seriously than most.
The first residential project by Life Time, the Minnesota-based health and wellness company founded in 1992, is located at 225 South Dixie Highway. That’s just south of The Shops at Merrick Park near the intersection of U.S. 1 and LeJeune Road.
The $500 million project, a joint venture with the Coral Gables-based Nolan Reynolds International real estate firm, is comprised of three parts:
495 upscale rental apartments, from 436square-foot studios to 2,252-square-foot penthouse units;
Life Time Athletic, a
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70,000-square-foot athletic resort that includes cycle, yoga and cardio studios, strength machines, a kids’ academy, rooftop pool/beach club, one-onone or group training sessions, nutritionists, and full service cafe and spa;
Life Time Work, a 22,000-square-foot shared work space that includes furnished multi-employee offices, open work spaces and flexible membership rates depending on the size of the space..
The monthly rents for the apartments range from $2,000-$8,000 and include a full gym membership with access to its various services for all tenants.
“We want to expand our Florida market,” said Bah
ram Akradi, chairman and CEO of Life Time Inc. “Today we only have two clubs open in the whole state of Florida [in Boca Raton and Tampa]. We have 28 in Texas. But Florida is much different than the rest of the country. We have to be very selective in the locations we pick.”
Although Life Time refers to its gyms as “athletic resorts” due to their size and the plethora of services they provide (including children’s care, gymnastics classes, even sushi bars) the Coral Gables project is the company’s first to include residences. Its first standalone athletic center in Miami-Dade will be located at The Falls in the space formerly occupied by Bloomingdale’s and will open in 2022. Another center in Palm Beach Gardens is also in the works.
“When I looked at the Miami market and how upwardly mobile people are and how activity and health and well-being is important to them, it was a perfect choice,” Akradi said. “I cannot wait until this thing opens in the spring.”
Construction is expected to be completed by February 2021. A pre-leasing and preview center is now open at 1430 South Dixie Highway in Coral Gables, offering both in-person and virtual appointments.
The Merrick Park area has become a magnet for health-conscious residents. In June, the city commission approved plans for a Belmont Senior Living project that is home to a Baptist Health healthy living center, due for completion in 2022.
Both Belmont and Life Time are within steps of the Astor Companies’ Merrick Manor, a 227-unit, 10-story condo project, which occupies a full city block off LeJeune Road near Coral Gables High School.
A wave of high-rise developments are currently under construction across Coral Gables, including the Agave Ponce Group’s The Plaza Coral Gables, which spreads across seven acres and three city blocks on Ponce De Leon Blvd. just south of Miracle Mile. In June, a 27-unit multifamily building at 1091 Galiano St. sold for $11.1 million, according to the Daily Business Review, even though construction is not yet finished.
Life Time has two other residential projects in development, in Dallas, Texas (due for completion in 2022) and Green Valley, Nevada (due for completion spring 2021). The company currently operates 152 health clubs nationwide and three in Toronto and employs 35,000.