Pictured is the outside of 834 Monroe Street, which will soon be home to Powerhaus Fitness Center. P-J photo by Sara Holthous

The co-owners of Powerhaus Fitness Center are looking to turn the property at 834 Monroe Street, which has sat vacant for a while, into a full scale fitness center.

One of the co-owners, Zachary Davis, presented the idea to the city’s Planning Commission during their July meeting. The building is around 10,000 square feet and Davis said plans for the exterior are to paint it and make it look nice, and that there are already security lights on the building, with the plan to install infrared cameras as well to measure things like foot traffic to and from the property.

“It is a 24/7 self access facility, meaning that once our app is completed any one of you could easily download the app, upload your information and then tap your phone on the door to let yourself into the building,” Davis said. “It’s heavily accessible.”

During the summer places like the YMCA and Planet Fitness get packed, Davis said, and the idea for this gym is to have a place off of the beaten track that is still in the city for people who might need it if they are looking for somewhere that they do not have to drive out to Lakewood to get to.

“So we’re trying to make a facility that anyone can go to and really focus on their health goals,” Davis said.

Currently, the plans are to put in two full-scale locker rooms and a recovery room which will include saunas and a cold plunge along with massage chairs. Davis added that equipment and flooring have already been purchased and that they are currently going through the building to make sure everything is good to go. Electrical engineers have been hired along with a structural engineer that has been out to the property already to evaluate the structural integrity of the building. Other work is ongoing and Davis said it should be “pretty state-of-the-art”.

Some planned perks include a mobile car detailer who will come and work on someone’s car while they are at the gym, a massage therapist on site, a smoothie bar eventually, and Davis said the hope is to expand a little bit on the outside eventually as well in the style of “American Ninja Warrior” for “those who are feeling a little crazy.”

He also discussed handicap accessibility and parking, with about 15 parking spaces provided including handicap parking. The commission asked if there would be any problems with zoning and the parking, noting that this project is in the area currently under discussion by the City Council with potential zoning changes in that zone.

“So we’ve talked about that a bit and we’re holding on submitting it for a zoning variance for a use variance right now because we really do feel, this is one of a couple of different projects and we have had a number of conversations with different individuals who are looking at purchasing buildings in that area,” City Development Director Crystal Surdyk said. “Right now, and I think this is really fitting for this conversation, because right now it’s zoned R-2 and there are very few residences there and building new residences is not a feasible thing.”

Surdyk said there were conversations with the zoning board that the department feels that the R-2 zoning of that area needs to change. Conversations are ongoing for this and other projects, and for the area the zoning code would change to C-1, or neighborhood commercial, something that fits for this project. It was noted that the zoning board is not interested in spot zoning, and that the city is working with their consultants to make this zoning change now to not lose momentum in upcoming projects and potential projects in the area, as the full overhaul of the zoning code and comprehensive plan will not happen for two years.

Davis said the goal is to open the gym in late October or early November, adding that the area looks “kind of crappy” and that the gym will take what is an “eye sore” for the city and make it something good. He added that he went all over the city and looked at several other gyms, and none of them met the needs of people he knew that go to the gym and the needs of others in the city with their specific offered perks and weight lifting competitions, which he said will also bring people to the city. Site plan approval from the Planning Commission for the project is asked for in August.