John DeWolf, Senior Vice President of Development for Howard Hughes Corp, and Columbia Association President Phil Nelson announce a new health and fitness club that will be coming to the Howard Hughes headquarters (and former Rouse Company building) in downtown Columbia.
Officials of Columbia Association (CA) and The Howard Hughes Corporation today announced that CA has signed an 11-year lease that will bring a new health and fitness club to the former Rouse Company headquarters overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi in downtown Columbia.
The facility will be located on the lake level of the iconic four-story, 151,000-square-foot buildin
“This is a great opportunity to partner with Columbia Association to bring another important amenity to our community,” said John DeWolf, Senior Vice President of Development for Howard Hughes. “It is also appropriate for an institution such as CA to become part of the adaptive reuse of this iconic building in downtown.”g, which was designed by internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry. Opened in 1974, it is owned and currently occupied by The Howard Hughes Corporation. In July, it was announced that Whole Foods Market will be opening a store in 45,000 square feet on the main level of the building. The lease between CA and Howard Hughes was signed with the assistance of commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley.
The 27,000-square-foot health and fitness club will be in the building’s lower level. With more than 5,500 new residential units and numerous new buildings slated for the revitalized downtown Columbia in the years to come, this health and fitness club will cater to those living and working in the community’s core and particularly to a market seeking facilities that are tailored to their individual desires.
“Who better than Columbia Association, which already operates three highly successful fitness facilities in the community, to open a club in this historic building,” said Columbia Association President Phil Nelson. “It will become another destination in a revitalized downtown Columbia.”
Construction on the health and fitness club is expected to begin in spring 2014. CA officials anticipate that the club would have its grand opening by fall 2014.
“When it was announced that Whole Foods would be leasing space in the former Rouse Company headquarters, I predicted that it would be a catalyst that would set in motion a series of projects that would dramatically enhance our revitalization efforts,” said County Executive Ken Ulman. “The announcement today that a health and fitness club will be located in the same building as Whole Foods only enhances our vision of what one of America’s best communities can be. I want to thank the Howard Hughes Corporation and the Columbia Association for their vision.”
Membership opportunities will be available in advance of the downtown club opening. Current CA members will be able to pay an additional fee for access to the downtown club, which will have picture windows overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi and the Columbia Lakefront Plaza.
Columbia Association offers a range of recreational, cultural and community services, including a welcome center; an art center; a youth and teen center; before and after school care; summer camps, free summer lakefront concerts; an archive; a volunteer center; an exchange program with sister cities in France and Spain; three fitness clubs; a roller rink; an ice rink; a skateboard facility; two golf clubs; three tennis clubs; 23 outdoor swimming pools (including two Mini WaterParks); an indoor swim center with a waterslide; a SportsPark with miniature golf and batting cages; and more than 3,500 acres of open space as a permanent asset for residents, including neighborhood amenities such as lakes and ponds, parks, tot lots, basketball and tennis courts and more than 93.5 miles of walking, jogging and biking pathways. For more information, visit ColumbiaAssociation.org.
The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate through the United States. Its properties include master planned communities, operating properties, development opportunities and other unique assets spanning 18 states from New York to Hawaii. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For additional information about HHC, visit HowardHughes.com.
CA Today 
Current CA members have to pay an additional fee?!? Don’t we pay enough for our memberships as it is? Dislike.
So this club is going to be an additional fee on top of regular CA PPP membership?
Whoa! Additional fees, that threw ice water in my face! Not gonna pay that one!
PPP members should be able to use this facility at no extra cost. Or for one I simply would not use it. Pay extra just for a view. Not. My Husband and I pay enough already.