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Life Time Fitness rolling out three sites in the Philly suburbs

Life Time Fitness gets into the region's fitness craze and rolls out three locations in the Philly suburbs.

Life Time Fitness, a health and wellness company headquartered in Chanhassen, Minn., will open three locations in the Philadelphia suburbs of Ardmore, Fort Washington and King of Prussia this year.

The trio of gyms mark the firm's entrance into Pennsylvania.

The announcement was made late Wednesday by real estate firm Metro Commercial, which negotiated all three leases on behalf of Life Time Fitness. "We are thrilled to partner with Life Time Fitness as they continue their expansion into the Pennsylvania market," said Tom Londres, President and CEO at Metro Commercial, in a statement.

The expansion of Time Life's footprint comes at a time when the fitness craze is hitting both American suburbs and downtowns.  Smaller studio gyms, such as SoulCycle, have become widely popular as more intimate alternatives to LA Fitness and other mega-gyms, as well as viable replacement tenants to back-fill spaces at shopping centers that lost other retailers.

SoulCycle made its debut in the Philadelphia suburbs last year with a 3,400-square foot location at Suburban Square shopping center in Ardmore.

But the privately-held Life Time Fitness is rolling out gyms that easily dwarf that.

The new 79,000 square foot location at Suburban Square will open in fall of this year, and includes a portion of the expansive former Macy's department store that shuttered in early 2016 as part of Macy's Inc.'s downsizing. Another 68 Macy's are due to shut this year. Four of them in the region closed for good last month.

The Fort Washington location, which was purchased by Life Time Fitness, covers 105,000 square feet over two stories. It includes an outdoor swimming pool and opens this spring.

The firm's third venue, at 136,000 square feet and spanning three stories with an outdoor pool, will open this summer in the booming King of Prussia area.

"The new Life Time Fitness locations were strategically chosen in regions of the Philadelphia suburbs that are currently experiencing growth due to thriving economic development," said Rob Cooper, Senior Vice President of Brokerage Services at Metro Commercial. "This, coupled with ample parking in high density locations and accessibility via major highways, is a recipe for success."