Gym to Take HOWS Market Spot

When the HOWS Market at NoHo Commons closed in May 2010, some local residents and business owners hoped a lower-priced market would replace it. But the space will soon feature a 24 Hour Fitness center. The company received permits last week to begin renovation of a 43,000-square-foot facility to open this summer.

Choosing the type of new business for the space was a considered decision, said Eric Reuveni, president and CEO of Los Angeles Commercial Real Estate group, the broker representing the landlord. 

“We did look at smaller markets, we talked to all of the potential players, including Trader Joe’s,” Reuveni said. “It was a hard sell for a supermarket after a supermarket didn’t succeed there.”

The new fitness center will enter a neighborhood that already has many options for staying healthy.

“I work out of a couple of private gyms right across the street from NoHo Commons,” said fitness coach and Universal City/North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce former president Jack Witt. He added that the gym might not be a draw for many local residents: “I know that a lot of these new apartments and lofts have state-of-the-art fitness centers in them.”

While the center will be within a mile of several smaller and larger facilities, Witt does not believe it will pose competition to existing businesses. 

His clients avoid bigger gyms like 24 Hour Fitness because they can be crowded, he said. Smaller centers and private clubs, he said, provide more personal attention, or unique classes like the Muay Thai boxing offered by At One Fitness.

Representatives from the new club agreed that they would fill a different need for the community, stressing the affordability of their clubs.

“24 Hour Fitness is committed to making fitness accessible and affordable to people of all ages and fitness levels,” Wendy Yellin, 24 Hour Fitness's senior director of public relations,  stated in an e-mail.

The neighborhood is part of a redevelopment effort that includes the Gallery at Noho Commons, with 438 residential units, and the Lofts at Noho, which has 292. With so many new tenants nearby, the Chamber of Commerce hoped that a lower-priced grocery store would replace HOWS, Witt said. They were not alone.

Susanna Eng-Ziskin, who lives in North Hollywood and is a customer at other NoHo Commons businesses, said she “was hoping for a Fresh and Easy.”

NoHo Commons customer Bill White agreed. “Another grocer would have been good,” said White. Both area residents said that the prices at HOWS played a part in its failure to serve the needs of the community.

While a market might have been preferable to some, other nearby businesses will be happy to see a boost in foot traffic when the gym opens. PX Drugstore opened three months before the HOWS closed. HOWS customers often discovered the drugstore after they had shopped at the grocery store, said pharmacy clerk Yolanda Ortiz. She expects the same thing will happen when people finish up their workouts at the new gym. “Hopefully, we can help them with the diets they are put on,” Ortiz said.