The Kansas City Chiefs-Branded Gym That Was Once A Big Box Retail Crafts Store
The first ChiefsFit, a team-affiliated and branded gyms, is an adaptive reuse of a ~37,000 square foot former Michaels craft store in a KC-area shopping center
The Kansas City Chiefs are attempting to win their 3rd consecutive Super Bowl this weekend.
But not all of Chiefs Kingdom is able to make the trip to New Orleans to cheer their team on in person.
Some may instead elect to watch the Chiefs while they workout at one of the two ChiefsFit gyms in the Kansas City area.
ChiefsFit gyms are team-branded fitness centers that feature state-of-the-art equipment and Chiefs gear throughout.
One other interesting thing about the ChiefsFit gyms?
Both are adaptive reuses of former retail and office space.
The first ChiefsFit, which opened in Fall 2021, is an adaptive reuse of a 37,000 square foot former Michaels craft store in an Overland Park, Kansas shopping center.
It was so successful that a second ChiefsFit location opened in 2023 in an even more unique adaptive reuse project.
That would be the Chiefs Fit Country Club Plaza, a 40,000 square foot, multi-level fitness center that is part of the $45 MM+ redevelopment of the historic Jack Henry building.
This ChiefsFit site is located adjacent to the Country Club Plaza shopping and lifestyle destination in Kansas City and was the former home for 83 years of the Jack Henry clothing store.
Both ChiefsFit gyms feature an ample selection of cardio equipment, Chiefs-branded weights, an indoor turf field, a recovery facility that offers hyromassage and cryotherapy treatment, full-amenity locker rooms and a Chiefs retail shop.
They also offer group fitness classes and personal training services — and the Country Club Plaza facility even has a unique rooftop terrace and turf training area.
The two ChiefsFit gyms in Kansas City are not the only NFL team-affiliated fitness facilities.
Or even the only gyms developed via adaptive reuse.
NFL-branded fitness facilities also operate in other markets and include:
BearsFit which is a repurposed ~45,000 square foot former Sports Authority store in Vernon Hills, Illinois;
49ersFit, located in a former Hancock Fabrics retail store in the Westgate Center Mall in San Jose, CA;
BrownsFit which took over a vacated 20,000 square foot fitness facility in Flats of Downtown Cleveland development;
And then there is Dallas — home to the most NFL-branded gyms of any city.
CowboysFit operates 5 locations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex — several of which are repurposes of former gyms.
But the flagship CowboysFit gym is a 60,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility on the 90+ acre Dallas Cowboys HQ campus known as The Star in Frisco, Texas.
The NFL branded gyms were formed via a partnership between the teams and Mark Mastrov of M6 Football, New Evolution Ventures, and formerly of 24 Hour Fitness.
But with 85% of NFL teams without a branded fitness facility — and plenty of good retail real estate available for adaptive reuse — expect to see more NFL branded facilities in the coming years.