American fitness operator Equinox has been announced as the first tenant at One Culver; a former movie studio HQ in California that is being comprehensively renovated by international architects Gensler.
Culver City real estate firm Runyon Group today (17 August) confirmed that Equinox will open “an expansive space filled with cutting edge fitness equipment, world class personal training, and unparalleled amenities” in the revamped 1980s office block, well-known for its stepped terraces and sloping glass atrium.
The club will feature a progressive program of studio-based classes including yoga, pilates, and spinning, as well as Equinox’s signature spa and executive locker rooms.
The 260,000sq ft (24,100sq m), eight-storey building, originally designed by architect Maxwell Starkman and known as Sony Pictures Plaza, is the former home of both Sony Pictures Studios and MGM Studios.
Runyon and fellow developer LBA Realty – which acquired the property in 2014 for a reported US$159m (€135.1m, £123.3m) – are overseeing the transformation of the property into a mixed-use leisure and commercial destination with “a prominent selection of dynamic restaurants, merchants and neighborhood businesses.” It is due to open in Q1 2018.
Gensler are adding additional entrances to the building, reorganising the interior layouts, cladding its stone exterior with white metal panels and adding extensive landscaping to the forecourt.
The practice were also responsible for designing the new offices of Sony Pictures Entertainment on nearby Overland Avenue, realised in the traditional Art Deco style used throughout the studio’s 70-year history.
Equinox operates 89 upscale, full-service clubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC, as well as international locations in London, Toronto and Vancouver.
Next year it is due to open its first hotel/health club hybrid, Equinox Hotels, which will be themed around movement, nutrition and regeneration in an appeal to regular travellers who want to keep fit.
