Planet Fitness, the national chain of 24-hour gyms, will open a new location in downtown Walnut Creek.
The new gym, approved Thursday by the city’s planning commission, will join a handful of other Planet Fitness locations in the Bay Area, including one in adjacent Concord.
It will replace Cost Plus World Market, which closed during the pandemic, leaving the building’s ground floor at 1697 Mt Diablo Blvd. vacant.
Planet Fitness will occupy the approximately 19,000 square feet of floor space below the top floor patio of the adjacent Fleming’s Restaurant.
A Planet Fitness representative told the planning committee that the gym will draw people downtown after the holiday season, when the start of the new year usually sees a lot of people join in as members.
The gym chain offers basic memberships for $10 per month and a “black card” membership for around $23 per month that allows members to work out at any Planet Fitness location of their choice. Basic membership restricts gym goers to the location where they are registered.
The city’s planning staff said in a report to the commissioners that the gymnasium “will enhance the identity of the city center and enhance the pedestrian-oriented retail district” by attracting visitors around the clock.