Country Club Fitness Centers: What You Need to Know Before You Begin
By Herb Lipsman, CEO of The Health Club Company
Private clubs everywhere are contemplating or embarking on the addition/expansion of fitness and spa amenities. For many club managers this can be a daunting task. Members of upscale private clubs are demanding that their clubs provide fitness amenities to meet their changing needs and interests as well as adding value to their existing membership. Fitness and spa facilities and operations differ significantly from those of golf, tennis and dining. Before embarking on a spa or fitness renovation or addition, there are a multitude of key considerations that must be addressed:
Utilization
• Who will use the new facilities?
• When will they use it?
• How many members will show up at various times?
• How do you determine the proper sizing of activity areas and overall facilities?
• How will club parking be impacted?
Facilities, Programs & Services
• Have you surveyed the membership?
• Which amenities should be included?
• What are the industry trends?
• What professional services should be provided (i.e. personal training, pilates, massage)?
• How many group exercise studios and what types of classes?
• Special f looring considerations?
• Which amenities should the locker rooms offer and how extensive? Hot tub? Sauna? Steam room?
• Day lockers or reserved lockers? How many of each?
• What kinds of exercise equipment should be provided? How many pieces of each?
• What about childcare?
• Which equipment brands and vendors should be considered?
Budget
• Is there a project budget?
• How was it determined?
• Has the budget and scope of work been presented to the membership and approved?
• If not, what is the club’s process for accomplishing this?
• What happens if the management and/or committee decide to expand the scope?
Design & Construction
• Choose an architect with experience.
• Choose a competent general contractor.
• Consider assistance from a construction management firm.
Communication
• Who will be in on the decisionmaking process (board, committees, management?)
• How will decisions be made?
• How will the general membership be kept informed to minimize unnecessary aggravation and miscommunication?
Operations
• What programs and services will be offered?
• Where will we find competent staff for these new programs and services?
• How will we fold the new staff into our existing team and culture?
• What should we pay, and how will we pay for the necessary staffing?
• How much should we charge for these facilities, programs and services?
Risk Management
• What are the new risks and liabilities associated with these facilities and services?
• What are the insurance implications?
• What special policies and procedures must be implemented to protect the club?
As you can see, the wise club manager will need to tread carefully when heading into this new world of fitness and wellness. Here are some simple recommendations to assist you at the start to avoid costly and unnecessary mistakes:
1. Survey your membership. Do they support these new or expanded facilities enough to pay extra for them (via assessments, increased dues, etc.)? What expectations do they have for specific facilities, programs and services? What is their frame of reference (what other facilities are they familiar with)?
2. Capitalize on your professional network by making a few strategic inquiries about consultants and architects available to assist with this new endeavor. Find out who has “been there/done that” and received positive references from your peers and those who may have disappointed their clients.
3. Find out from your board or owner about specific budget guidelines or limitations that must be considered from the start. Don’t waste time and energy planning a “Taj Mahal” if all you can afford is a small “hotel-style” fitness room.
4. Recognize that you “don’t know what you don’t know.” Unless you are a “fitness expert” with extensive knowledge of upscale sports clubs, you are probably not well informed on the dramatic design and programming innovations that have been made over the past several years. Assuming you are an expert can be the “kiss of death” for a club manager, and you probably won’t discover your mistakes until it’s too late!
5. Make site visits a part of your planning process. Visit other modern country club fitness centers, health clubs, sports clubs and spas to gain a clear and informed perspective on what can be done today and what your members will likely expect.
6. Be prepared for a journey that will include lots of starting, stopping and course corrections. This is inevitable with this type of project because your members, your Board and your consultants will all want to give you their best thinking throughout the process. This typically leads to change orders along the way, but if managed properly, the extent and cost of these changes can be effectively managed and minimized.
Here are several other valuable lessons I have learned after more than 30 years in this business:
A. Establish a clearly defined scope of work and budget as early in the process as possible. Your Board, member committees, architects and management team must all sign off prior to moving on to construction drawings. Then, be disciplined in managing the design to meet the budgetary constraints. Include a “safety net” in the budget for change orders. No matter how well you plan, someone will find important omissions or changes in the plan during construction — and you want to be prepared to deal with these.
B. Be sure to include inf luential members and staff in the planning process in order to ensure buy-in and support further down the road when the “Monday morning quarterbacks” show up.
C. Perform your due diligence. Visit other facilities so you have an informed perspective, taking into consideration most recent design advances.
D. Don’t let your ego get in the way. Contact other club managers, including health club and spa managers for their insight regarding what to watch out for and what to expect. You may think you know enough already … you don’t.
E. Don’t’ take anyone’s word for granted because of their credentials. Just because the architect or engineer says it is so, does not make it so. Many a club operator has lived to regret unnecessary mistakes made in water-proofing wet areas, HVAC systems, room sizes for massage or group exercise studios, etc. Follow your gut and keep asking a lot of “dumb questions.”
F. Meet regularly with your design and development team (i.e., architect, consultant, builder, staff, committee representative where applicable) and make sure that detailed notes are kept and distributed following every meeting. These notes will serve you well if anything goes wrong in future months or years.
G. Focus on the needs of the members today and what you anticipate for at least ten years in the future. Be sure you build it large enough to meet increasing demands, but f lexible enough to meet changing interests. As you can see, there are many essential considerations when developing a new health club, fitness center or spa facility. With a little preliminary research, you canlook like a genius to your board, your members, your peers and your staff … or not! The choice is yours.
Herb Lipsman is the president & CEO of The Health Club Company, a Houston based company specializing in consulting and management for the upscale health clubs, country club fitness centers, luxury resorts and spa developments. Lipsman served as the lead executive overseeing tens of millions of dollars in improvements at The Houstonian Club and Trellis Spa, located in Houston, TX. His firm recently consulted on a beautiful new fitness & tennis center at Lakeside Country Club in Houston and continues to serve as the management company operating these facilities. The company has also been hired by River Oaks Country Club in Houston to advise on the design and development of its new stand alone fitness center. Lipsman has served on the board of directors for IHRSA (The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) and as Chairman of The Mayor’s Wellness Council for the City of Houston.