Fitness studios are taking over the Triangle's downtowns
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
Boutique fitness studios and wellness centers are booming across the Triangle.
Why it matters: As e-commerce shrinks demand for traditional retail, ground-floor spaces in downtowns and shopping centers are increasingly filled by businesses focused on fitness and personal care.
The big picture: This shift isn't just a local trend, but a national one.
- Service-oriented tenants leased more space than traditional retailers for the first time ever last year, driven by growth in spas, fitness studios and salons, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- Those tenants accounted for more than 50% of leased retail space last year, according to CoStar. Fifteen years ago, those types of tenants made up 40% of leasing.
Between the lines: The rise of service tenants is keeping vacancy rates low.
- The Triangle's retail vacancy rate was just 2.5% in Q1 — and even lower for spaces under 10,000 square feet, per Colliers.
- Nationally, the vacancy rate is around 4.4%.
By the numbers: Downtown Raleigh has 23 fitness-related businesses — 15 of which have opened since the pandemic, per the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
- In downtown Durham, 11 of its 19 fitness studios have opened in the past two years, per Downtown Durham Inc.
- And across Kane Realty's properties in North Hills and downtown Raleigh, five fitness concepts have opened or are under construction in the past two years.
- "In addition to these fitness studios, our Wellness Wednesdays series at North Hills has sold out nearly every week for the past two years, reflecting a clear and growing demand for fitness and wellness experiences within our community," said Hannah Smith, a spokesperson for Kane Realty.
State of play: These businesses range from small pilates and yoga studios to larger concepts like Sauna House, a spa that offers both saunas as well as cold plunges and now operates in both downtown Durham and downtown Raleigh.
- The new studios are often popping up on the first floors of the new apartment building complexes that have exploded in number across the region.
- Bigger deals are happening, too: Life Time Fitness signed a 92,000-square-foot lease in Cary — one of the Triangle's largest retail deals this year.
What they're saying: "Urban, mixed-use development anchored by [apartments] are a natural fit for these concepts," said Will Gaskins, of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
- "Those buildings have 2,000 to 3,000 square feet available … and [a fitness studio] compliments the existing residential," he said.
Zoom in: Dewayne Washington, the franchise owner of two Jetset Pilates locations in the Triangle, said consumer demand is shifting toward specialized, time-efficient workouts.
- "People want a workout that is quick and efficient — 50 minutes in and out," he told Axios.
- Competition for customers, however, is intense and "real estate will make or break your business," he added.
Washington looked at 18 properties before signing 10-year leases for Jetset Pilates locations at Hub RTP in Research Triangle Park and 555 Mangum in downtown Durham.
- Both sites offered easy highway access and proximity to offices and apartments.
- "Convenience and visibility are everything," he said. "Two blocks away [in downtown Durham] and it would not have been as convenient" for customers who walk or drive.