Fan retail strip gets pumped

In spring 2007, the Wilton Companies transformed a used car lot and garage at the intersection of West Cary and Lombardy streets in the Fan into retail space.

More than two years later, the first tenants are moving in.

Nirvana Salon & Spa arrived in September, and Fitness Together, a personal training studio, is planning a grand opening Nov. 13.

“It took a long time,” said broker Chris Francoise. “We entered at the high time of the market, and starting out the rates we were asking were a little high.”

And then the recession hit.

But since prices have adjusted and the economic outlook has improved, Francoise said things are looking up.

“People are still kicking tires and comparing rates, but there has definitely been a lot more activity,” he said.

Francoise said it took a little bit of time for the neighborhood to progress and become an attractive location.

“Like any sub-market in Richmond, I think incremental progress in that whole corridor has taken some time with residential and commercial to develop,” said Francoise.

While the timing may have been a bit early for the landlord, it’s just right for Sean Murphy, owner of the Fitness Together franchise.

“I found a good opportunity looking at today’s economy to grow the business better and get a stronger location,” said Murphy, who is moving his studio from the Brook Run Shopping Center near Lakeside.

Fitness Together is a personal training franchise with more than 500 locations worldwide. Murphy said each session is between $50 and $65 and offers one-on-one training.

“We offer a luxury service. People can go to a box gym and work out, but with us, we give one-on-one attention and guarantee results, so you spend a little more,” he said.

When the economy tanked in September 2008, Murphy said, clients started dropping. At one time, he was training between 30 and 40 people; that number is down to between 15 and 20.

Murphy wanted to move to the Fan to be more centrally located and to have the chance to draw in new clients. The new property also gives him 500 more square feet to work with (the new location is about 1,900 square feet). Currently he is the only trainer, but Murphy said he is interviewing other personal trainers

At the new location, Murphy said, he can serve between 50 and 60 clients.

The Gold’s Gym just around the corner doesn’t pose much competition, he said, adding that his current location is in front of an American Family Fitness.

“The clients we cater do, most don’t belong to big gyms because they don’t feel comfortable in them,” said Murphy. “Those that want extra activity, a gym compliments what we are trying to do.”

BizSense has recently written about the growing fitness-related industry here.

Al Harris covers commercial real estate for BizSense. Please send news tips to Al@richmondbizsense.com.

Local developer faces foreclosure in Colorado

Local developer Hank Wilton is reported to have foreclosure  notices on three personal properties near Steamboat Springs, Colo., according to a  newspaper there.

Wilton, chairman of the Wilton Companies, has a 50 to 60 percent stake in a commercial development in the ski resort town known as 360 Village, according to the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

The three foreclosed properties are not related to the 360 Village development.

The properties being foreclosed include a homestead owned by Wilton Development Corp. with an outstanding balance of $1.58 million, a rural home on five acres owned by Wilton and his son, and another rural home on five acres owned by Wilton Development.

Wilton confirmed the news. He said Wilton Development Corp., which is separate from the Wilton Companies, entered the Steamboat Springs market about four years ago.

“Obviously things in the resort market aren’t doing that well,” Wilton said. “Some of the lesser properties, we’ll let go.”

Wilton said he is in talks with the banks holding loans on his Colorado properties and may work out some options with them. Meanwhile here in Richmond, Wilton is currently developing three communities with Ryan Homes.

“What I do there and what I do here are completely different,” Wilton said. “Nowadays people aren’t buying $500,000 lots or $5 million houses, but they are still buying Ryan Homes.”

The Steamboat Pilot spoke with Randall Hannaway, one of Wilton’s partners in 360 Village, about the situation.

From the article:

To understand how Hank Wilton, a man whose holdings include apartment buildings and office buildings on the mid-Atlantic Coast and 30 shopping centers in the Richmond area, came to fall behind on three relatively modest properties in Routt County, Hannaway said it helps to know how Wilton structures his real estate development ventures and what he is trying to accomplish today.

Like many real estate developers across the country, Wilton had leveraged a number of ongoing projects, and like most developers, he was hurt by the lending crisis, Hannaway said.
…
“Hank put it very succinctly,” Hannaway said. “In economic times like these, investors often have to consider what to hold, what to push forward and what to let go.”

Wilton is also involved with a couple of other developments in the Steamboat Springs area, but its portfolio is primarily concentrated in the Richmond area.