HARLINGEN — Planet Fitness, the international gym chain, is coming to Harlingen.
A project outline filed with the state says SRS Real Estate Partners of Dallas will pay $500,000 for the renovation of a site at Harlingen Town Center on 13th Street for the new gym.
No stranger to Texas given its 87 locations in the state, it will nevertheless be the first in the Rio Grande Valley.
Planet Fitness, founded in 1992 and based in Newington, New Hampshire, has 1,216 fitness centers in 47 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and the Dominican Republic.
More than 90 percent of those locations are owned by franchisees.
The gym chain has made a name for itself as a cheaper alternative to current workout businesses, and markets itself as catering to novice and casual gym users, thus its marketing phrase of being a “Judgment Free Zone.”
Some but not all of its locations are open 24 hours.
In its second quarter financial report filed earlier this month, the company estimates total revenue for the year will be between $366 million and $372 million with an anticipated addition of between 210 and 220 new fitness centers this year alone.
Adjusted net income is estimated at $62 million to $65 million, the company said.
Both Planet Fitness and SRS Real Estate Partners declined to comment on plans for Planet Fitness Harlingen.
But the document filed shows SRS plans to renovate Space 26 at 812 N. 13th St. in the strip mall.
The site is between the University of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences center and the Texas Thrift Store. It is less than a hundred steps from another fitness center, the Fitness Zone Gym.
Planet Fitness has been a disruptive yet successful force in the national gym scene, undercutting other fitness centers with low prices.
A basic Planet Fitness membership costs $10 per month, with an enhanced membership costing $19.99 per month giving users access to tanning beds, massage chairs and any Planet Fitness gym.
Construction at the Harlingen Planet Fitness site is set to begin Sept. 1, and completion of the project is anticipated by Dec. 1.
The closest Planet Fitness locations to Harlingen are the 10 gyms in San Antonio.