North Raleigh Lifetime Athletic

[RALNATIVE]

The new $28M 108,000 sq feet Lifetime Athletic will open on March 10th. Based on the photos in the TBJ slideshow this looks like a very nice facility.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2015/03/06/life-time-fitness-ltm-raleigh-nc-health-club-opens.html

[ctl]

Another 1970s piece of Raleigh bites the dust, perhaps deservedly so.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/print-edition/2012/10/19/mega-gym-plotted-for-falls-of-neuse-site.html?page=all

[RALNATIVE]

I will say that a club like this is much needed in Raleigh.

[JeffC]

We joined the club.  It's a beautiful facility, but, like any other large corporate chain, their primary purpose is to extract as much money from the members as possible.  The "free trainer session" each new member gets is really a one hour high-pressure sales job that makes getting into shape sound as difficult and technical as trying to navigate a spaceship to the moon and is intended to get you to pony up for high priced trainers (as high as $120/hour (!) ), sessions with the in-house nutritionist, etc.

[RALNATIVE]

The facility is top notch and the member costs are higher than average for the area, but comparatively speaking the costs and services are aligned with what you will find offered at other comparable clubs in major cities. The north Raleigh crowd seems to be buying whatever they are selling because the gym stays packed.

[Jones_]

I rented an Airbnb in Portugal once, and the host opened up and began talking about his frustration with the lines of cars at school of parents waiting to drop off their kids right at the front door, then driving off to the gym to use a treadmill. He reasoned that they could have gotten the same workout by simply walking their kids to the school. Boy this place would drive him crazy. Mega gym gives me a chuckle honestly. I like downtown's small speciality exercise places, and the gyms in all the apartment buildings facing the street. Maybe mega gym is just how it works in the 'burbs….