Health club proposed at site of former San Jose domed theater
SAN JOSE >> A big health club is being proposed at a San Jose site on South Winchester Boulevard where an old domed movie theater once stood and screened Hollywood blockbusters and other films of bygone decades.
The health club is being considered at the former site of the now-bulldozed Century 24 domed theater at 741 S. Winchester Blvd. south of Interstate 280, according to public documents.
The proposal envisions a 38,000-square-foot health club, San Jose city files show.
Syufy Enterprises owns the parcels where the health club would be developed, according to Santa Clara County property documents.
San Rafael-based Syufy operates multiple businesses, including SyWest Development, a commercial real estate firm; and VillaSport Athletic Club & Spa, a fitness chain. Syufy didn’t respond to requests for a comment.
“Syufy is doing very well with its VillaSport concept,” said James Chung, a retail specialist and executive managing director with Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm. “A VillaSport should do well at that location.”
Founded in 1941, Syufy for decades operated movie theaters in the Bay Area and elsewhere. Those film palaces notably included the Century 21, 22, 23, and 24 domed theaters in San Jose.
Eventually, Syufy began operating under the name Century Theaters. In 2006, Cinemark bought Century Theaters, a transaction that included the sale of the Century 21, 22, and 23 theaters, also located along Winchester Boulevard in San Jose.
The only domed theater that Syufy retained after the 2006 sale to Cinemark was the Century 24. The first film to screen at Century 24 was a showing of “Gone with the Wind” in 1968. Century 24 closed its doors in 2014.
One of the domed theaters that will survive a wideranging effort to create a dramatic and modern new tech campus on Winchester Boulevard that’s called Santana West is the Century 21 film hub that’s being preserved as a historic structure.
Syufy owns nearly three acres at the Century 24 site, county documents show.
The proposal envisions a two-story health club the 741 S. Winchester Blvd. site.
Potential rivals have either opened their doors in the vicinity or are seeking approval for fitness center sites.
Barry’s Bootcamp, a boutique fitness center with a personalized approach, has leased a site at San Jose’s bustling Santana Row complex.
A tech campus that would include a 250,000-squarefoot office building and a 140,000-square-foot fitness center is being considered on the old Garden City Casino site at Stevens Creek Boulevard and Saratoga Avenue, city planning documents show.
Despite the potential competition, a big office complex that’s under construction at the corner of South Winchester Boulevard and Olsen Drive, along with a huge new outpost at Santana Row for tech upstart Splunk, could ratchet up demand for fitness centers from tech workers.
Syufy opened a VillaSport club in 2017 at 1171 N. Capitol Ave., near the Interstate 680-Berryessa Road interchange in San Jose.
That fitness complex featured a gym, restaurants, childcare, swimming pools, and water slides, along with a selection of classes and a basketball court with a hardwood floor.
“VillaSport is a great concept,” Chung said. “They have very nice amenities.”