Corporate Fitness Works adds design division
Corporate Fitness Works has added fitness center design to its core business of developing and managing fitness programs.
The St. Petersburg-based company launched a new division, CFW Design, and is working with commercial real estate owners and developers such as Boston Properties and CBRE.
Michael and Beth Vivio
The move comes nearly a year after Corporate Fitness Works got new ownership. Michael Vivio, the former CEO of Valpak, and Beth Vivio, former executive director of a Girl Scout council in Texas, bought the company last summer. The company develops custom fitness center management programs that focus on the unique and specific needs of employees who work in large-scale office environments.
The new division, which officially launched about a month ago, designs fitness centers and is headed by John Ruyak, who is president of CFW Design.
Well-designed gyms give commercial property owners a competitive edge as they work to attract and retain tenants, and every detail matters in the design, CFW said in a news release. The company is basing its approach on the data and trends it has gleaned from operating more than 100 fitness centers in 23 states for companies like Navy Federal Credit Union and Volkswagen.
“Our goal is to maximize fitness center spaces in a cost-effective way for property owners, while focusing on the clientele that will be using them,” Ruyak said. “The design and equipment we recommend for a busy hotel with white-collar business people might be different than what you’d see at an office building with millennials.”
CFW Design worked on the fitness center at Lowe’s corporate office in Mooresville, North Carolina,
In addition, property managers might not have the expertise to buy the right equipment for a commercial space, rather than equipment suited for a home, or know the requirements of Americans with Disability Act.
CFW Design has worked with Boston Properties, one of the one of the largest owners and developers of Class A office properties nationwide, on two fitness center refresh projects for offices in Washington, D.C. The company partnered with CBRE on designing a three-story, 70,000-square-foot fitness center for Sprint when the company moved its headquarters to Overland Park, Kansas. It also redesigned the fitness center at Lowe’s corporate office in Mooresville, North Carolina, which now includes everything from a spin studio and juice bar to a relaxation corner and recharge room for activities like ping-pong or foosball.
CFW has rolled out a new website for CFW Design as part of an expanded marketing effort. It also plans to add staff as the division grows.
