Fitness Concepts Dominate Texas Retail Leasing Market

Fitness plays into real estate almost as much as it does into having a snatched waist.

Consider Related Company’s ownership of luxury fitness concept Equinox, which also operates SoulCycle and Blink Fitness. There’s also pickleball frenzy, and private padel courts popping up in places like Billionaire’s Row in New York City.

In Texas, fitness and entertainment concepts have kept retail real estate vacancy at historic lows, while major retailers like Big Lots, Conn’s and Joanns folded.

The vacancy rate halfway through the year was lower than the 20-year historic average in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, according to Partners Real Estate.

Among the big backfillers is Dallas-based EoS Fitness, which was founded in 2014 but has blown up in the past few years. It has 175 locations across the country and plans to expand to 250 gyms by 2030. The company was acquired by San Francisco private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners in May.

EoS is redeveloping a 45,000-square-foot former Fiesta Mart store at 8040 Ferguson Road in Dallas, and it had four other projects in the works across Texas last year, according to Weitzman.

Fitness is also the hook for Houston-based apartment developer Define Living. The firm, led by CEO and founder Henry Richardson, bought one of the last undeveloped parcels in Houston’s Energy Corridor. The firm is planning a 388-unit complex on the 10.2-acre tract, which it bought from Wolff Companies. The four-story complex will be built near planned city trails and include a gym, infrared sauna, cold plunge, bicycle spa and “a personal wellbeing coach for every resident.”

Needless to say, brokers are getting in their reps within the fitness sector.

Elsewhere in Texas real estate this week…

Ashford Hospitality Trust, led by Dallas investor Monty Bennett, is facing financial distress after defaulting on a $590 million hotel portfolio loan, failing to secure refinancing before a forbearance period expired. The 18-property portfolio, primarily in Texas, has seen declining occupancy and has been in and out of special servicing since 2020. Although Ashford recently received a loan extension until January and the portfolio was appraised at $1.1 billion, its financial challenges persist amid ongoing efforts to refinance.

Sterling Bay abandoned its plans for a $100 million, 13-story office project in Deep Ellum after selling the 2.7-acre site to an unidentified entity called Dos Hombres Ventures. The Chicago-based developer, facing mounting financial challenges and setbacks with its Lincoln Yards project, has been offloading real estate, including multiple properties in Chicago.

Austin-based developer American Ventures is proposing a $557 million, 100-acre mixed-use project in San Marcos and is seeking city support through a public improvement district, zoning changes and potential tax abatements. The development would include more than 1,600 residential units, a hotel and more than 140,000 square feet of office and retail space, with completion planned by 2031.

A 1,000-home master-planned community called Holly Ridge is being developed in rural Fort Bend County, about 7 miles west of Rosenberg, by Signorelli Company and D.R. Horton. Spanning 359 acres, the project will offer homes priced between $300,000 and $450,000 and include 133 acres of outdoor amenities. It reflects a broader trend of developers expanding into the outer edges of the Houston metro area amid a slowdown in master-planned community sales.

Actress Emma Stone sold her renovated seven-bedroom mansion in Austin’s Tarrytown neighborhood without ever moving in, choosing instead to remain in New York City with her husband, Dave McCary. The couple bought the 1.24-acre property off-market in 2021 with plans to relocate but changed course, listing it for $26.5 million before cutting the price to $23.5 million. If sold at the asking price, it would rank among the most expensive residential sales in Austin.