Planet Fitness is growing its Houston footprint. According to a recently filed permit, the fitness gym is expected to open in Southeast Houston within the Almeda Crossing at 10025 Almeda-Genoa Rd.
The permit further details that construction is expected to start this month and is slated to wrap up by mid-November. If all goes well with the $1.5 million construction project and permitting, the new Planet Fitness should be open before the end of this year.
Skye Terrell, the Construction Director at Houston Fitness Partners, LLC, a franchisee of Planet Fitness, was listed on the permit. What Now Houston reached out to Terrell to find out more details about the exciting new addition to Houston’s fitness community. Unfortunately, we did not hear back by the time of this publication.
Houston Fitness Partners, LLC is an independently owned Planet Fitness franchise operating over 40 health club locations across the Greater Houston area. Founded in 2008 by Jon Evans and Scott Sanders, the company expanded significantly, including the acquisition of regional Fitness Project facilities. What Now also reached out to Evans and Sanders, but did not hear back by the time of this publication.
“Sharing the same mission as our franchisor, our goal is to provide a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment where anyone can feel they belong, which we call the Judgement Free Zone®,” the Houston franchisee’s LinkedIn page reads.
“We bring that same culture into our day-to-day operations by following our core values focused on People, Fun, Honesty, Accountability, and Drive.”
Planet Fitness was founded in 1992 in Dover, New Hampshire, by brothers Michael and Marc Grondahl after they bought a struggling gym. In 1993, Chris Rondeau joined the team before becoming the long-term CEO. The founders eventually realized that 80–85% of people did not go to gyms because traditional spaces felt intimidating and expensive. They stripped out heavy free weights, juice bars, and classes to focus on a casual, low-cost user base, launching the $10/month membership model.
The owners purchased the official “Planet Fitness” name rights from Rick Berks, who had opened a separate gym under that name in Florida in 1993 and opened the first official franchise location that initiated rapid national expansion, before going public on the NYSE in 2015.
There are now more than 2,700 Planet Fitness locations worldwide, with the vast majority operating across the United States. Texas has 222 of those locations, with more than 21 in the Houston region.
The new Houston location, opening in the Alameda Crossing shopping center, will open doors in the retail space that previously housed a Conn’s HomePlus store.
What Now also reached out to the Planet Fitness CDO, Chip Ohlsson, but unfortunately did not hear back by the time of this publication.
Planet Fitness is anticipated to open in Southeast Houston within the Almeda Crossing at 10025 Almeda-Genoa Rd this fall.
