The new Gold’s Gym health club opens this week at 731 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee. The health club’s facilities include a salt water pool, cardio cinema, basketball court and multiple group exercise and fitness rooms.
Gold’s Gym occupies about 45,000 square feet of space in the 7-story building, which had been vacant for more than 22 years, and in the adjacent 735 N. Water St. building.
The buildings are owned by Madison-based Compass Properties.
The construction work on the building is “substantially complete,” said Sheldon Oppermann, vice president of Compass Properties. The only work that remains to be completed is exterior cosmetic work including, stone veneer and window shades. Signs for Gold’s Gym will also be added to the east and west sides of the building.
“It should look very, very good,” Oppermann said.
Compass Properties announced that in conjunction with the opening of Gold’s Gym it is combining the two buildings into a 423,000-square-foot complex called The City Center at 735.
“The City Center at 735 is the perfect combination of everything you are looking for in an urban work and in urban life, including the Gold’s Gym,” said Oppermann.
In addition to the revitalization of the long vacant 731 N. Water St. building, Compass Properties said it has made numerous improvements to the 735 N. Water St. building during the last five years including rebuilt cornices and remodeled lobby and common areas. Some of those costs were covered by taxpayers in the form of tax incremental financing (TIF).
“With the continued transformation of this important block of North Water, we are showing our commitment to creating a vibrant economic center of not only downtown Milwaukee, but of southeastern Wisconsin," Oppermann said. "The City Center is at the exact center of our downtown. It has been the heart of the central business district for nearly 100 years and, with our investment, it is certain to be a market leader for another 100 years. With all the talk about historic buildings and their importance to Milwaukee, we feel it is critical to lead by example and prove that continued innovation results in sustainable growth.”
The redevelopment of the 731 N. Water St. building also included the creation of two stories of office space on the sixth and seventh floors, with a total of 17,000 square feet of space, valet parking for office space tenants and a 3,500-square-foot restaurant space along the riverwalk on the west side of the building. Compass Properties also plans to rebuild its riverwalk section, making it eight feet wider to allow space for outdoor restaurant seating. The valet parking will be located on the ground level of the 731 N. Water St. building. That service will begin in mid-January, Oppermann said. Gold’s Gym patrons will park in a parking structure across Water Street.
Opperman said he is close to signing tenants for 13,000 square feet of office space in the 735 N. Water St. building. There is about 90,000 square feet of office space available in that building. That means there is about 117,000 square feet of office space available in The City Center at 735 complex.
Compass Properties is in talks with the owners of the 100 East building to hook into the city’s skywalk system. The 100 East building would benefit by being connected with the Gold’s Gym building.
