By Faith Zantua, Staff Reporter

Life Time Athletic, a luxury fitness club, opened in Wayne in 2017. Six years later, Life Time Living is now planning to open a residential facility near it.

On Dec. 5, the Tredyffrin Township supervisors approved a zoning amendment that will allow the company Life Time to build luxury apartments next to its athletic club. Tredyffrin Township Planning and Zoning Director Erin McPherson took part in handling the approval.

“It (Life Time Living) is really a high-class facility,” McPherson said. “Life Time is looking to have something on that site that can work in conjunction with Life Time (Athletic).”

According to its website, Life Time is dedicated to “the healthy way of life” and has 161 athletic country clubs with fitness areas and equipment nationwide. Junior Laila Awad regularly exercises at the Wayne location and finds it enjoyable.

“It (Life Time) is really good. Everyone is really sweet there,” Awad said. “There’s a lot of Conestoga people that go there, so it’s nice to see familiar faces.” 

Life Time Living is partnering with Canoe Brook Development, a real estate development company, to construct the housing. According to the preliminary plan, it will include 197 multifamily apartment units, a garage with 355 parking spaces, an amenity courtyard and a fountain. Future residents’ rent includes Diamond Level membership to all Life Time club locations. 

Econsult Solutions Inc., a firm providing analytical services, predicted that the new housing will bring approximately 342 new residents to the area. Children who live in the new apartments will attend TESD schools. It may also attract current Conestoga High School students and alumni.

“I’d like to get a house next to the gym so I don’t have to pay for the gym (and rent separately),” Awad said.

Despite the addition of more residents, McPherson believes that the housing will not significantly change current traffic. Traffic levels may even go down as some people who used to drive to the athletic club will no longer have to.

“When sites are being constructed, there’s always some construction-related activities that may affect some areas directly around (them),” McPherson said. “But knowing the location of (the Life Time Living facility), this is in an area where you have Swedesford Road that’s really a larger thoroughfare that can handle that amount of traffic.”

Life Time Living is working on submitting a land development plan to the Tredyffrin Township in order to continue with the construction. There is currently no announced construction timeline.

According to Life Time General Manager Lance Vugteveen, the company is hoping to have renderings and more information before summer.

Faith Zantua can be reached at [email protected].