Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, the once-smelly waterway that was long a punch line for comedians, will soon welcome one of the Big Apple’s largest and most glamorous “wellness” centers.
Life Time, creator of 185 “athletic country clubs” including 13 in the Big Apple, signed a lease for a mammoth health-and-fitness mecca at Charney Companies’ and Tavros’ 175 Third St. – with 85,000 square feet indoors on three levels, plus a 13,000 square-foot rooftop pool deck.
Soon to be the largest building in Gowanus, 175 Third St. is part of the development partners’ five-building campus called Gowanus Wharf. Thanks to rezoning to spur creation of 9,000 new rental apartments, and a federally-backed cleanup, tenants have flocked to new towers along the once-fetid canal, which has emerged as the neighborhood’s scenic centerpiece.
Charney development head Rosie Tilley said, “Life Time’s national reputation for quality and excellence elevates the experience we’re creating at 175 Third Street.”
Life Time chief of property development Parham Javaheri called it “the marquee building we were looking for in Gowanus.” He said the “mega-deal” would include “three amazing indoor pickleball courts, a ‘wet suite’ with sauna, steam, infrared and cold plunge, and the rooftop pool deck” with features that will make it useable year-round.
Javaheri said he first flipped for the then-undeveloped location at Third Street and Third Avenue before COVID. “I said, ‘Someone’s going to buy this site and we will be the retail at the base.’ It would serve residents not only in Gowanus but from Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.
“Last year, I think it was at ICSC, we had a brief meeting between my team and Sam Charney. It was a great connection. They had a vision for their project and we shared their vision to create something truly unique.”
Javaheri said the new Life Time wouldn’t likely open until 2028. Excavation is just starting for 175 Third St., which will have 1.1 million square feet and 1,100 apartments. Charney and Tavros are Gowanus’ most active developers with over 2,200 apartments.
As we first reported in June, the team chose architect Bjarke Ingels’ BIG studio to design 175 Third, replacing a version he had done for the site’s previous owner Aby Rosen.
