Sports Capital
Most fitness centers are located in Primorsky, Vyborgsky and Tsentralny districts of St. Petersburg. Availability per capita in 2015 is dominated by the central districts of the city – Admiralteysky, Tsentralny and Petrogradsky districts (from 5 to 7 fitness clubs for every 50,000 people). A few years ago, a trend to diversify within the brand, by dividing clubs into premium, business and economy classes, appeared in the market for fitness club chains.
The biggest fitness club chains in the city in 2015 are Fitness house (39 clubs), Sport Life (15 clubs) and Alex Fitness (12 clubs). The 3 largest chains account for about 65% of all fitness club chains in St. Petersburg.
Commercial conditions
According to data from Maris | Part of the CBRE Affiliate Network, rental rates of fitness center premises in shopping complexes and business centers in the beginning of the 1st quarter of 2015 is on average from 70 to 100 USD per sq m per year, not including VAT and operating expenses. Currency contracts are characterized by a fixation rate within a certain corridor.
As a rule, fitness clubs occupy areas ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 sq m. Moreover, the larger the area a fitness center rents, the lower the rental rate per square meter.
Compared with retailers, fitness centers that are anchor tenants in shopping centers pay significantly lower rental rates. In addition, they place high demands on leased premises, such as:
- High energy consumption;
- High ceilings;
- Presence of ventilation;
- Separate entrance;
- High floor load (in the presence of a pool, exercise room).
Forecast
Analytics predict that further development of the sports and fitness industry will occur in the economy class segment. The medium and premium class segments of fitness clubs will suffer more as a consequence of a reduction of corporate fitness programs by companies, which seek to cut their expenses. Cost of production of services will continue to grow due to the rising cost of imported equipment, public utilities and energy consumption.