Parking lot will be overhauled as part of project

Boston Sports Club has agreed in principle to a ten-year lease agreement that will make the health and fitness chain the main tenant in a prominent Adams Corner building. The fitness center will take over a 17,000 square foot space that has been vacated by Rite-AID, the chain drug store that closed its doors earlier this year.

The Cedar Grove Civic Association will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, August 6 to hear more details about the planned renovation of the building and the adjacent parking lot.

Tom Cifrino, the president of Supreme Realty Trust that owns the building, confirmed the imminent lease deal this week. Cifrino says that interior demolition work will likely begin inside the first-floor space in August in preparation the fitness club’s renovations. The lease agreement will span ten years, with options for the club to extend its lease in five-year increments beyond that end date.

Cifrino said that executives from Boston Sports Club believe that the Adams Corner location is ideal for their brand.

“They’ve always wanted to have a club here and they thinks it’s a great neighborhood for them,” said Cifrino, who added that he believes the time has come to change the primary use of the property. Built in 1934, it housed supermarkets for most of the last century before transitioning to a retail drug store.

“The real truth is that if we went with another supermarket, like a Foodie’s, I think they would have struggled here. Rite-AID struggled and that’s why they decided to close. I think it’s time for a change and this will rely upgrade the neighborhood,” said Cifrino.

Details of a plan to renovate the parking lot will be made public at the Aug. 6 civic association meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. at St. Brendan’s church. Cifrino has hired attorney Larry DiCara, a former Boston city councillor, to represent his company as they seek to change the occupancy permit of the building to include a health club.

Cifrino said that the realty trust that owns the property— including the parking lot— has contracted with a firm to reconfigure and beautify the surrounding parking lot, which is heavily used by motorists doing business in the surrounding Adams Corner village. He estimates that the work in the parking lot alone will cost around $100,000.

“We’ll put in curbing and landscaping and new lighting. The entire area will be re-paved,” said Cifrino, who believes that work on the parking lot will begin “as soon as [the Aug. 6 civic meeting] is over.”

More extensive work to retrofit the first-floor space for the health club will come later and will include extensive mechanical and plumbing upgrades for the building. It will not house a swimming pool, according to Cifrino, due to space constraints.

DiCara, the attorney representing Supreme Realty Company, said that the location is ideal for a Boston Sports Club.

“This is a good operator and smack in the middle in terms of price points, that offers both classes and fitness machines. This is a chain, but it is not a franchise, it’s owned corporately. The model is a very simple one: they want to be in areas where a lot of people can walk or bicycle with the highest usage on evenings and Saturday mornings. I think it’s a win-win for all concerned,” DiCara said.

The building at 540 Gallivan Boulevard also houses a Supreme Liquors store, which will also likely be renovated during this project, according to Cifrino. The Boston Sports Club will not displace any other tenants in the building, which also houses College Hype, a popular local sportswear company, in the basement.