Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry King
Equinox would be a game changer for the square, I know they were going to come to philly a couple years ago but for whatever reason it didn't happen.
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When I was investigating purchasing at the Laurel, Eva Walker (one of Southern Land's leads in sales and marketing of the building) told me they decided against it because they were worried about what kind of foot traffic a gym would generate and that residents would not like it. I never really appreciated that rationale. I don't think Equinox or a similar high end gym would attract "rifraff" and there are other cities that include them in luxury condos without turning off buyers. At 35 Hudson Yards, they are making the Equinox a centerpiece of that residential condo tower and marketing it as a selling point.
I get that there is a certain class of buyers that doesn't want any retail, restaurants, or strangers in their tower, but this is not that kind of a building anyway. Those buyers will go with a Scannapieco project. I, personally, would love to see an Equinox SOMEWHERE in the City as well. Bellevue Sporting Club needs to step up its game. If Southern Land has reconsidered since we last spoke and they do go with an Equinox here, I'd be happy. I'm not sure 24,000 square feet is big enough, though, and I actually thought there was room for more retail in this tower than that. Maybe this number excludes the Sansom side.
EDIT: maybe it is big enough for an Equinox; looks like the High Line one is about 30,000 square feet:
https://clodagh.com/projects/equinox/