US-based operator Life Time has opened a luxury wellness lifestyle apartment complex in Boston as it accelerates investment in the residences market.

Operated under its Life Time Living brand, Life Time Living Burlington has 167 rental residences and is steps away from Life Time's 173sq ft full-service health club, its programmes and fitness and wellness facilities.

Properties include 14 studios, 69 one-bed and 11 one-bedroom + den apartments and 73 two-bed homes ranging from 558 to 1,407sq ft.
Rents range from US$3,000/month to around US$8,000/month.

Residents at Life Time Living Burlington get a Signature Life Time membership to the club, which features a large gym floor, six studios, small group class areas and other training spaces, as well as indoor and outdoor pools, pickleball zones, squash and basketball courts and a full-service LifeSpa.

They also enjoy full-access membership to all 170 Life Time health club destinations across North America.

A professional concierge helps residents achieve their healthy living needs and do things such as find their favorite yoga or cycle class.

There are also work-from-home and lounge spaces, conference rooms, a private dining room, covered parking with charging stations and a cycle lounge.

The development has two outdoor courtyards with firepits, grilling stations, conversational seating areas, outdoor games and a meditation area. A half-acre park with a walking path, dog play area and green space rounds out the residential amenities.

The complex covers 13 acres.

Parham Javaheri, Life Time chief property development officer, said: "We developed our Life Time Living residences adjacent to our athletic club to form an all-inclusive, health-minded community. Our aim is to enable residents to foster healthy, socially-connected and environmentally-conscious lifestyles.

"This is a game changer in the greater Boston market and exudes the ethos of our Healthy Way of Life company and brand," he said.

The development comes hard on the heels of the company's recent opening in ConnecticutConnecticut, as is the company's fourth residence development.

Life Time is one of the first health and fitness operators globally to develop residences, following a business model favoured in the hotel and spa market, where outfits such as Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons build and sell or rent out residential units alongside their hotels, using the funds generated to sustain the overall development.

"The wider wellness real estate market is growing fast as more people seek to integrate health and wellbeing into their overall lifestyle, although health and fitness operators have not generally yet seen or grasped this opportunity," says HCM editor, Liz Terry.

"We expect high-end health club operators to begin to jump into the market to develop residences in and around their health club and wellness operations to enable consumers to enjoy a higher standard of living.

"All this is part of health club operations becoming ever more powerful consumer brands," said Terry.