DARTMOUTH —If you’ve recently driven by the VF Outlet Center, 375 Faunce Corner Road, you know it’s hard to miss all the construction.
In the spring, a small, but significant, change will occur as the Healthtrax Fitness Center, after 31 years occupying the nearby Southcoast Wellness Center, relocates.
The decision to move half a mile up the street came after Southcoast Health chose not to renew its lease and instead repossess the building, considered prime real estate, for its own use.
“They’ve generously been extending our period there month to month to allow us to find a new location, work with the developer, and create the new center,” said Debbie Stauble, director of public relations for Healthtrax.
At this time, Southcoast Health said it does not have formal plans for the building once Healthtrax vacates.
“Southcoast Health is exploring a variety of options for the facility that focus on providing exceptional clinical care to our patients. We defer questions related to Healthtrax future services to Healthtrax management. We wish Healthtrax well in their new facility,” said Maureen Boyle, public information officer for Southcoast.
Stauble said that when Southcoast Health broke the news last year that it was reclaiming the space, the plan all along was for Healthtrax to stay in or as close as possible to the area. “We have a longtime standing in the community. We were looking to stay in the immediate area to make it conducive for our current members to still have a local fitness center,” she said.
The timing of Healthtrax’s needs seemed to go well with the VF Outlet Center’s evolution over the past two years since the property was bought by developer Paul Downey in May 2017.
While the 48,000-square-foot VF Outlet remains and was remodeled as part of the new ownership, smaller tenants have left for various reasons as the developer has reconfigured the layout of space to a multi-use capacity.
Downey Publicist Elizabeth Isherwood, from Moore & Isherwood Communications Inc., said that besides the VF Outlet and Healthtrax, “there will be an office user for 12,500 square feet and possibly another retail tenant who will occupy 6,500 square feet. The rest of the space will be light industrial. All space is expected to be completed by this summer. There is possibly 6,600 square feet still available.”
The new Healthtrax facility will be larger than the original, will keep most of its programs and services, and introduce some new features. “In order to be in business for as long as we have, we’re constantly reinventing ourselves and keeping up with the times,” said Stauble, who adds that no staffing cuts will happen with the move. “Our manager and core staff have grown up with us. Some of them have been with us for decades.”
At 33,000 square feet, the new family-friendly center promises to include such mainstay features as an extensive fitness floor, a weight-training area, multiple group fitness classes and studios, a basketball court, racquetball courts, personal training, Hydro Massage, and a Kid Zone youth program.
The one program that can’t make the move is aquatics exercise. The new facility won’t be able to house a pool, something that has upset some members. “The water program isn’t physically and economically feasible at the new building. We empathize and understand it’s a reason why some members joined.”
Stauble said that while Healthtrax is losing its pool activities, it is a making up for it with a variety of other programs. “We are a wellness center. There will be a lot of other activities and we always encourage our members to mix it up,” said Stauble.
Healthtrax hopes to have the new facility open by the end of March or early April.