Construction on a new Planet Fitness in Hesperia has finally begun, almost 17 months after government health restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic hampered the company’s efforts.
The crews were working in the spacious building across from Wendy’s in Mojave Plaza on Bear Valley Road near Victor Valley College on Tuesday.
“Construction on the new site is going well, but we don’t have a final date for the disclosure right now,” Becky Zirlen, director of public relations at Planet Fitness, told the Daily Press on Monday.
A pink Porta potty stood outside the future gym on Tuesday while employees from Hitt Plumbing and also Phillips Heating and Air Conditioning worked inside the building, which included piles of drywall and uninstalled plumbing.
The new Planet Fitness will be the company’s third fitness center in Victor Valley, alongside the clubs in the Gateway Shopping Center on Main Street in Hesperia and on Mariposa Road in Victorville.
Planet Fitness member Bill Lopez, 67, told the Daily Press Tuesday he was looking forward to the new gym, which is less than 4 miles from his Apple Valley home.
“I usually work out at Planet Fitness on Mariposa Road in Hesperia, but this new gym will save me nearly ten miles from the road,” said Lopez. “Every time I pass Mojave Plaza, I pray that Planet Fitness opens.”
The expected opening of the new Planet Fitness in the square in the summer of 2020 has been halted due to government health restrictions on gyms amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Zirlen told the Daily Press that the company hopes to open the Hesperia location by mid to late 2021. Planet Fitness operates nearly 2,060 gyms in the United States, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Australia.
Planet Fitness markets its gyms as the “Judgment Free Zone” and is aimed at beginners and casual users.
The Mojave Square
The Mojave Plaza, which broke ground in September 2019, welcomed the opening of Aldi and AutoZone the following summer.
In February of this year, Wendy’s and Quick Quack car washes opened on the square almost two months later.
Almost a year after the opening of the square, four smaller commercial spaces between Aldi and Planet Fitness remain uninhabited by tenants.
Hesperia city spokeswoman Jennifer Colby told the Daily Press Tuesday that the construction and security department had not reported any more outstanding tenants for the vacant units on the square.
The Mojave Plaza is managed by Epsteen & Associates of Marina del Rey.
The Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz can be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
