Surprise! City Fitness Is Opening a New Gym in East Passyunk
The Philly-based fitness brand will close its South Philly location in favor of a space double the size, four blocks away.
City Fitness will open its newest gym at 1701 East Passyunk Avenue this summer. / Photograph courtesy of City Fitness.
In the 15 years it has been in operation, City Fitness has hit major milestones. Despite a somewhat rocky start, the Philly-based fitness brand currently consists of six clubs, including one in Fishtown, a 40,000-square-foot facility in Center City, and a sleek outpost in East Market (which won a Best of Philly readers’ pick in 2019).
Plus, as a response to the pandemic, the company created an outdoor gym in 2020, and recently introduced Evolve, a hybrid membership option that gives members a mix of virtual and in-person classes. And last month, City Fitness announced that they leased over 17,000 square feet inside the new residential building at the corner of 2nd and Spring Garden streets — home to their first club location. The new NoLibs space, which will feature a 75-foot lap pool with skyline views, is slated to open in 2024.
But that’s not all! City Fitness is opening another club this summer (THIS SUMMER!) — and you’re hearing it here first.
Their newest gym will be located at 1701 East Passyunk Avenue, right in the heart of the eponymous neighborhood. Technically, this will be their sixth location, as they’ll be closing the club at 12th and Wharton rather than having two sites less than a half-mile away from one another. Though it’ll be a bittersweet farewell to the current South Philly gym, City Fitness East Passyunk will have two floors and be double the size — 15,000 square feet — making for an upgraded experience.
The soon-to-come East Passyunk spot will offer City Fitness’s signature group classes — Focus (yoga, barre, and Pilates), Burn (cardio, dance, and HIIT), and Shift (indoor cycling) — and training program, THRIVE. The club will also feature Olympic lifting platforms, a functional turf area, a hydromassage lounge, saunas in the full-service locker rooms, and a shake bar which will be available to both members and non-members. Unlike some of the other locations, East Passyunk will not house a dedicated WE/FIT studio, but City Fitness is currently working on ways to integrate those bootcamp workouts into other parts of the gym.
In an email sent to City Fitness South Philly members, CEO and founder Ken Davies says that they are aiming for an early July opening, with an exact date forthcoming. In preparation, the current Wharton Street location will close sometime in June in order to move all the cardio and strength equipment to East Passyunk — though, studio classes and WE/FIT will continue during the transition. During that time, members will be given complimentary access to any of the other City Fitness locations, or can choose to freeze their membership.
When the East Passyunk club does open, hours of operation are anticipated to be Monday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., Fridays from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
