Virgin Active Leases 4500 Sq m in Sydney CBD

THE Sydney CBD's new Mid City Retail Arcade has secured Virgin Active as a major tenant.

Virgin will lease 4500 square metres over two floors at the 420 George Road complex, due to open in September.

In keeping with industry standards of having two members per square metre, the gym will be limited to about 9000 members.

The Sydney CBD already has five Fitness First gymnasiums, the AFR reports.

Virgin Active already has a CBD store in Bourke Street, Melbourne. It opened its first Australian gym at Frenchs Forest in Sydney in late 2008. It gym business network spreads across Italy, South Africa, Spain and Britain.

Managing director Mark Blackman said the company is looking t open up at least 20 more Australian facilities in coming years.

Globally, Virgin has 170 clubs with over 900,000 members.

State Street has also recently leased space at the Mid City complex - about 10,500 square metres. Other tenants in the development will include General Pants, G-Star, Politix, Portmans and Witchery.

The complex is being developed by Fortius Funds Management and Lend Lease's Australian Prime Property Fund.